Are You Ready?

Photo: from blog.campopoly.com (see Note)

When was the last time

you forgave yourSelf

for being human?

There is a long overdue ceremony

that we must all take part in.

It marks the beginning of the end of rage.

I know of this power,

this force,

that is for us to reckon with…

It is the power of One.

It is Unity.

It is yours for the choosing,

now.

You need only ask for redemption

from your misgivings about

your own Soul.

Your need only reach out

and connect with the Source

of eternal, exquisite Love.

Are you ready?

© 2010/Jamie K. Reaser

Note: I invite you to look carefully at the pattern
of the Unity Star in the photo and let the
message of the poem settle in. Where else
has that pattern shown up prominently over the
last couple of months?..The soul/collective conscious
speak through image...often quite profoundly.

The Moment

Image: origin unknown

If you’ve done

the work,

a moment will come

When what others observe

as a mundane

paw print of reality,

You’ll claim as the

holy embodiment of

a sacred dream.

In this moment,

your ego has become a

handmaiden to

your soul.

In this moment,

your heart has emerged

from its utilitarian form.

From this moment on,

you’ll know.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out." 

What I Do Know

Image: Origin Unknown

I'm not built
for the small
or superficial -

for the cloudy or
that which lacks rigorous integrity.

In a world
which devours these things
like fetid sweets
I could revel
in feral hermitude.

But I don't have to.

For,

No matter the illusion
of silence, distance,
and time,

I'm blessed to
know a conversation
that never ends.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Note to Self

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

Cry.
Expand.
Let the longings
that tug at your heart
be the strings of your
sun dance.

Kneel.
Pray.
Surrender to your destiny -
the glory of who you
are meant to be.

Listen.
Speak.
The truth chimes
in your ears.
It has always done so.
Now you must give it resonance
in your lungs and across
your vocal chords.

Remove your shoes
and your limiting beliefs.
Make love to the Earth
with every footfall.
Her's is the most intimate relationship
available to a human.

Look.
See.
Your purpose vision
dwells within your eyes.
All three.

Extend.
Hold.
The hand, the body
that you embrace
is the other's salvation
and your own.
We are physical beings because
Spirit knows what it takes
to birth a miracle.

Love.
Because that's what you
were born to do.


~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" 

Feel free to share

The Hook

Image: origin unknown

You are a largemouth bass,

Micropertus salmoides,

gulping water and ushering

it passed your feathery gills,

focusing your steely,

golden eyes on that which

is just inches from your

well-practiced jowls,

undulating your dorsal fin

and tail just enough to

keep your densely scaled, robust body

suspended in the water column

so that you can decide.

The thick, ruddy

night-crawler-of-a-worm

thrashes there before you,

twisting and turning in such a manner

that your neurotransmitters can do little

more than concoct the invitation

“Eat me!”

“Eat me!” –

as if the Universe has suddenly decided

to offer up to you the winning

gastronomic lottery ticket.

You could bite,

or you could look more closely.

Here’s what I see –

A Lugumbricus terrestris

in sheer agony:

impaled,

folded,

and impaled again and again,

drowning.

The metallic barbed hook

is secured to a clear nylon line

studded with three lead sinkers.

Eight feet up a plastic red-and-white bobber

is riding the lake’s breeze waves,

waiting, eagerly

to be the spokesperson

of your demise.

The line continues on to a rod,

and then into a reel.

The ready hands on grip

are your own.

Your own.

So, what’s it going to be?

What is your karmic decision?

Are you going to get hooked

by the Old Patterns that

no longer serve you,

and perhaps never did?

Or, are you going to

seek and earn

authentic nourishment

elsewhere?

I pray that you don’t let

Self deception and

instant gratification

be the utensils of your

last supper.

©2010-2016/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" (www.hiraethpress.com)

Feel free to share

Seeing

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser, The Bush Man

You were given eyes with which to look

and a heart with which to see.

How blind the human heart.

There is a man on Jefferson Street in

San Francisco sitting behind two branches.

If you approach him, he’ll lurch out

with a growl and a grin.

He’s desperate to feel seen.

There are troubled young men in ghetto blasting cars,

women in skimpy cloth on littered street corners,

actors,

politicians,

people standing next to you,

and knee-high children yanking at their mother’s skirt

all longing to be held in an acknowledging heart’s gaze.

For many of them…

a turned head,

a blank stare,

and projection

will be all they ever know.

They are anonymous on the inside.

Turn your attention within.

There is a newborn at breast seeking affirmation

in your hold and expression.

There is a toddler taking first steps,

a kindergartner with scraped knee,

and a confused pubescent teen.

Have you ever noticed?

These are the unmet aspects of you

who scowl at those out there

out of jealousy and fear

that someone else will

achieve wholeness.

This is your inheritance,

and mine.

When did love become such a

scarce natural resource?

I asked this of the raven

and he showed me an unlit candle –

no light in the darkness,

no flame in the heart.

Set it on fire!

Oxygenate your tender corizone

and throw it a spark…

See what I see –

Mirrored back to you:

A glimmering timeless soul,

A radiant one deserving of endless earthly affections,

A unique story worth countless witnesses,

The essence of a piece/peace of us all.

Of us All.

Each being unseen is a tragedy of universal soul loss.

Open wide the eyes of your heart.

Peer through the breaks, cracks, and tears –

they are there for good reason.

Look. See.

Please.

© 2010-2020/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" 

Feel free to share

Madre de la Selva

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

You lure and captive-ate me

in your viney, gemstone

tendrils

like a love note or a thorn,

sent from afar, deeply penetrating

- me and time -

anonymous and humid.

Blood courses, flows, beads, spills.

What ancient longing stirs,

haunts,

indigenous, naked, and savage,

recollecting in

cellular memory

Life

Herself -

birthed the writhing, suckling, murderous

Goddess of Fertility

and Death,

encoupled,

serpentine,

and staring me in the I?

Ah! Bless the inner knowing –

a sensuous passage

awaits,

emergence from your

purgatorial embrace,

and after glow.

(c) 2004-2010/Jamie K. Reaser