Sacred Surfers from the Savage Garden

We waddle we paddle 

with comical ease

Watermoles digging

from steady earth to flowing brooks.

glowing in mysterious shades unseen

Bills purring, squeaking, cooing, growling

humble brown yet in shadow

purple, blue, green

we sing our wisdom.

four broad webbed feet

pushing us forward

thick tails like rudders 

steering us 

surely through eddies 

currents along the river.

Unique curious diplomats 

We invite you

to swim waking through

your dreams.

Listen, Learn, Work

Dreamsurfers

Bright eyes closed

sensing electric sparks of life

Grins wide

letting humor guide you in darkness

charming, disarming

to conceal secrets

like milk of amnesia

perhaps better kept

closer to the vest

Cuddly cute

best keep an eye 

on our boots though

one of us carries

 pain venomed daggers

that would drop you to your knees.

Only she will slumber so

curled upon the throne of 

egg bejeweled nest.

Transformation

Renewal

Seekers in murky waters

Leave no stone unturned

in your sacred quest

Accept all your diverse parts

Reject nothing, hide nothing

from yourself

Everything begins within

Wisdom, Love, Change, Fortune

Want to heal the world?

Start with you.

Adapt to your own potential.

Knowledge is power

which can mean the difference

between surviving and thriving

Diverse

Creative

Resilient

Mysterious puggle

Private Investigator

Sensing always 

more than meets the eye.

For those new to the game, each piece in the Singing series is inspired by a Teacher found in Nature; a star, stone, animal, plant etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for us. Can you guess who is singing today?

Temerarious Tempest Reader in a Teacup

Temerarious Tempest Reader in a Teacup

Clever Crocutas serving high tea and trading omens 

upon the shadowed ceiling of their oracular cave

Striped, spotted, earthy brown

Ferocious matriarchs, relentless Houdinis

never quite where or what you expect

Lunar priestesses, cloisonne pots steaming sigils 

from Serengeti to Caucasus

Leading cackling feliform carnivoran packs.

Turning surviving into thriving

the way high rollers turn a pittance 

into winner's stacks.

Roll them bones! 

Mama needs a new pair of shoes!

Set yourself free from fears. 

There is the cave that holds 

the treasure you seek.

Giggle, chuckle, fill nights with cocksure glee.

Howl with the absurd hilarity 

run mad as often as you please,

but do not faint, Fanny, 

Oscar, so wild, combing your manes!

It could all turn on a dime. 

Tails, you run!

Life is the grand game, 

yet no one gets out alive.

Master that throat chakra, folks!

Clarity in communication 

is worth more than being shy, quaint.

Nobody has time for that. 

Laughter reduces shadows.

Good medicine for everything 

except broken ribs.

Having some left at the end of the day

means there is still hope for tomorrow.

Laughter and tears

soap for the soul.

Moods are contagious.

Be courageous.

Stand in your truth.

Hunt diligently for the right words

rather than scavenge for what you can make use of 

just because it is laying close at hand, MacGyver.

Tough enough to laugh first at yourself, fool.

Consult the Clan.

Hear our concert.

Create your oasis.

Fierce bite protects loyal heart.

Ready your battle plans.

Lead from the center of the mud puddle

Shenzi, Banzai... Ed

Everything light and shadow touches

Crown your lunacy 

while shifting shape

on the crossroads of your desert

For those new to the game, each piece in the Singing series is inspired by a Teacher found in Nature; a star, stone, animal, plant etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for us. Can you guess who is singing today?

Hyenas have often gotten a bad reputation in folklore or symbolically, been cast as the villains, deceitful brutes or just dirty scavengers. In truth they more solidly represent the duality of nature, both worthy and brutal. Hyenas can hunt alone or in packs. They are capable of strategic thinking, fearless courage, great strength, resourceful, adaptable, resilient and yet all four species are most known for their barking which sounds so much like laughter. Hyena could represent fear, chaos, darkness, powers from beyond the void and the messengers that travel between carrying power, even death... and the laughter that exposes all those things, breaks their hold and dispels them, protection from all the evils that go bump in the night. 

Puirt à beul of the Maringouin

 Puirt à Beul of the Maringouin 

Whining hum

Here they come

Back again

Forever complaining

Incessant at the gate of every ear

since the dawn of time

226 million years

if it has been a minute, surely.

they come

as surely as winter thaws into spring

 

Oh yes go right ahead!

Help yourself

I see your narrow crystalline grin

revealing nary a jagged tooth

Butter wouldn't melt there!

Are you all world's worst come again?

Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles, oh my!

Click my ruby heels

Not saccharine little old you?

Something more savory?

Something with a little spice?

Bite down nevertheless

Dig deep, 

not to the bone for your savory fare

just beneath the skin is far enough

Needling everyone around you

Work them into a rash, a fever

Set the world abuzz!

Slaver, drool over your feast

Swamp angel, Nighthawk

Spreading plague

Sowing discontent

Breeding anger, lies, rumors, gossip, envy

Make them itch with malcontent

Derision dropping easier than blood

from another wayward prick

Rub everyone the wrong way

Perhaps turning even the air toxic around you

Dispersing along paths of least resistance

with hardly more than an errant slap

as a screening process 

to inoculate the masses

from the black vomit 

unrelenting scourge

of our droning 

repellant asses

Irritated?

Curse the day that ever we were born?

Think you are the first do you?

Let it go

All things pass eventually

even if they pass like hailstones

Even us, 

Passing through cycles

through lives, rooms, dreams, veils

Vectors unstudied yet

Interconnected

Valuable to the fabric of life

in the extremist of conditions

Delicate enough to carry

a spark of creation

spreading verdant life 

as easily as devastating disease

Balance in recycling motion

Yin Yang

Patience

The water's mirror will still once more

Reflect

Rise above

Resist

Persist

Examine

Transform as reason and season dictate

Be objective

Be present

Be here

Now

Sing in our ears

Hum along if you don't know the words

You are 

the very cure you seek

Physician heal thyself

Spread the cure

Save the World

For those new to the game, each piece in the Singing series is inspired by a Teacher found in Nature; a star, stone, animal, plant etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for us. Can you guess who is singing today?

p.s. whew! lol It has been a minute.  ;) just wanted to say, this is the first completely new Teacher poem I have managed since my mom passed. Like it or not lol I am pleased with this Shadow Teacher's song that has been humming in my ears a little louder every year since mom slipped the veil in 2018. more importantly to my heart, I know Mom would be so pleased and would laugh when I told her about this one. She always was so pleased, each and every time I had something to stick up on the fridge she carried around in her Mom heart since day one. I was so very lucky to have her. <3 Congratulations to Cathi on being the first to name this Creature Teacher! 

Coursing River Dividing My Heart

 Warning: therapy poetry.... it ain't pretty people. so, if you don't have the space for it today, skip this one. It needs somewhere to live other than my body. That's all. It doesn't need anything, just... air. lol

Coursing River Dividing My Heart 

I sang your name to you

while you dreamed in your shell

I loved you with a wild joy

before either of us knew who you were

You seemed to see the world with a heart of compassion

You seemed to want to love it whole, happy, sane again

like I once did

as a foolish girl with dreams too large

I tried to shelter your heart close to mine as you grew

while letting you grow in your own directions

I tried to guard, to guide, to listen, to hear

Above all, believe you 

when you took the time to speak to me

I saw when you began to hide and lie to me

It happens when we leave childhood behind

Life batters us, distracts, confuses

We all stumble, lose our way

Love is the source

All that heals, binds, lifts us up, inspires, makes worthy

We gather, share, to make ourselves not only happy but stronger

Beacons of light

So my mother taught me

So Life has shown

So I believe

So I instructed

I didn't understand when you began lying to yourself

I didn't understand when you began treating yourself like a victim

I didn't understand when you stopped listening to me, hearing me, believing me

I didn't understand when you began to treat me more like a roommate than a parent

I damn sure don't understand when you went from "I would never do that to you, Mom"

to ripping my heart out so casually

leaving it on the floor like a forgotten toy

without a word, or a picture, or a scribble, not even one smile from your kids

while their presents pile up at graves that don't yet exist

to punish me for being your parent

to punish me for being the roof over your head and theirs

to punish me for being there to care for your children every day for years

diapers, baths, bedtime, meals, stories 

just as I did every day for you

not just come and see Yaya so she can give you sweets

then go home after a visit

No

I fell asleep exhausted next to them 

at the end of long days

Just like I did next to you and your siblings

a second parenthood I never earned nor complained of

How awful when Aunt So and So cut off precious Grandma

never did let her see those boys again

How evil when that sociopath denied me

the ability to see our first grandson

for an entire year

before she went and got him killed when he was just 3

Devastated the whole family

Why would anyone use their own child as a tool to cause pain,

or like a commodity with which to punish or reward?

Generational Trauma unleashed

Off the hook, connections unmade

"I would never do that to you, Mom"

I can still feel your arms around me as you said that

Liar

Nothing was enough to stop you

from dividing my heart

with your piercing river

Inexorable

Heedless

Consistently

From Texas to college and therapy

You rolled over all my concerns

with what you simply desired

as careless as a river in full flood

No thought to the damage you will leave in your wake

No empathy for the mourners left wailing along your banks

never to reclaim their loved ones for proper burial

Abandoned 

by your piercing river

that should have brought love, healing, a renewal of wisdom

instead of this unnatural disaster

Because I insisted

Get Therapy or Get Out 

for serious abusive issues 

to a no job boyfriend

who just moved into the house

depressing the entire family

after two years of being forced to live in silence

against my will, better judgement, sanity, personal faith

all while I watch the campaign being run against me

the scapegoat

on the other side of your widening river

My heart dissolves slowly

like banks too soft to withstand yet another rain

While your sister

who refused to be a living light

laughs and tells me

You were not tactful enough, Mother

Enough

I could cry my own river 

with how much I miss her

but I am thankful she 

my Mom, the original Black Sheep,

isn't here to see any of this bullshit

We loved too much

She and I

We may be divided

You and I

Yet

I will not be drowned 

by your silly trickle, my little love

For Love is the source

Not me

Not you

No matter how you flow 

nor how we rage or grieve

You too will return to the source eventually

Though I may storm now

eventually my love will lie calm again 

Reflecting that perfect light 

back to you once again

Perhaps a sailboat or two

Moonlight

upon the ribbon of the river

dividing my heart

Revolutionary

 

I am the Revolution

I know

I accept

I believe

I am

I love me

I am strength

I am love. Love is a Force of Creation

Creation lives Within and is without end

I am enough

I change as needed

I adapt

I grow

I have been given a sacred gift to defend

I do not hesitate to defend the sacred

I wound

I heal

I die

I recreate

I transform

I revolve

I dream

I am perfect imperfection

an evolving Masterpiece

living emotions

eating experiences 

vomiting lies unconsumed

toxins rejected from the soul up

laughing at the joy and absurdity

Severity

Mercy

I trust my wings to catch me

I am the Sky

I am the Revolution

I am becoming you

Always

the path is a spiral

leading ever inward

a place of peace

where we walk each other home

Time 

The door

through which we pass 

as often as we must

to become you

the Revolution

Odonata Sonata

Horse-stinger, Devil’s Needle

Gliders, Dashers, Darners

Flitting acrobats above mirrored waters

“Skim below 

Refresh your view

For nothing is ever

As it appears on the surface

We pierce the Veil

Guardian of Dreamtime

Shape-shifter revealing all your illusions

While casting my own

With each bright reflective scale

Perhaps as long as

Two years immersed as a nymph

Gobbling everything smaller than me 

Mastering emotions

Before revealing the dragon within

Adderbolt, Snake-doctor

Soaking up moments in the sun

Now is the only reality

Change the only constant

Hovering

Hypnotic as a daydream

Seeing all but that just behind me

Before flashing off

In any direction

To capture and devour my prey

Mid-flight

Mosquito Hawk, Bee-render

The easiest lies are those we tell ourselves

We will reveal each self-spun illusion

Keeping you from Growth

From Transformation

Like a poke in the eye

Restoring truth to your sight

Humming Ancient Magic

320 Million years

Drumming warmth and Wisdom

With each lacy beat of my 

Independent wings

Messenger, Diplomat

Fairy Horse, Magician’s Wand

I can introduce you

To all that sings

What you need

Is already at your hand

Adapt

Transform

Pierce your own veils

Mature, Grow

Allow yourself to understand

Light and Dark

Dream True"

For those new to the game, each piece is inspired by a Teacher found in Nature; a star stone, animal, plant etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for those who listen. Can you guess who is singing today?

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams..."~ Arthur O'Shaughnessy

“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” ~ Buddha

"Reality leaves a lot to the imagination." ~ John Lennon

Dragonfly would agree with all of these statements!When we examine this Guardian of Dreamtime, we see that He lives in both Air and Water and that he has mastered the art of Transformation evident in his change from nymph to Dragonfly. He needs the running Waters of the World to breed and survive, just as we need to learn to navigate the deep waters of our own emotions. These aspects make him very versatile, changeable, and aware of the many needs of both Mind and Heart. He teaches us how to break through the illusions of self and material world to reach the Truth inside each of us, sometimes seen only in our Dreams.

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." Albert Einstein

"No man will be found in whose mind airy notions do not sometimes tyrannize, and force him to hope or fear beyond the limits of sober probability." Samuel Johnson

"Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you're just a reflection of him?" ~Calvin and Hobbes

If you are feeling overwhelmed by emotion and need to step back to find some clarity, if you are struggling with transition or addiction of any sort, if you have fooled yourself into thinking something was "real" only to find it was wishful thinking... Dragonfly can help you. He challenges us to look at ourselves clearly, face what needs changed in our selves or lives, and then impliment the change. He loves best for us to see clearly through both Light and Shadow, Reality and Illusion to the illumination Truth. "Things are seldom how they appear on the surface!" He says, "Dip through the Veil." Dragonfly can help us make our Dreams into Reality, but he cautions us to Know Thyself and Accept Truth first.

This little Magician is like a living Wand as he flashes his bright colors through the air. And like the Magician of the Tarot, Dragonfly tells us that we already have all the tools we need at our hands, we merely need to learn to recognize and properly employ them. "Listen and learn from the World you are a part of", hardly seems like advice. In fact, much of what Dragonfly can say to us sounds so familiar that we wonder why we are hearing something that we already knew. This is usually when Dragonfly laughs at me and says, "Well then, if you already know all this...why aren't you using that knowledge?" She especially chastises me when I look outside of myself for reasons why something has gone wrong in my life. It is so easy to put negative thoughts and feelings off on someone or something else that this is an aspect I struggle against quite often. Gently humming Dragonfly can help us to better navigate our emotions, especially in times of stress or trauma.

"Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it." Vincent Van Gogh

"The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy." Jim Rohn

"When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error." Buddha

Do you wonder why you always seem to attract a certain kind of person? Whether negative or positive, Dragonfly shows us that we attract these people because they are reflecting back to us some aspect of ourselves. As Carl Jung said, " Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." Change especially from within, Enlightenment, Recognizing Illusion whether it comes from within or without, Realizing Dreams, Transforming Ourselves, Releasing Addiction, Combining Emotion with Rational Thought, Avoid Blame and Accept Responsibility are all Dragonfly Lessons.

"I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." ~ Alice Walker

"Be though the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray." Lord Byron

Ted Andrews, author of "Animal-Speak: The Spiritual and Magical Powers of Creatures Great and Small", said, "Dragonflies remind us that we are light and can reflect light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. "Let there be light" is the divine prompting to use the creative imagination as a force with your life." We are what we believe, what we think and feel, and this reflects on those around us. We can spread our feelings, thoughts, and beliefs to others without even consciously choosing to do so! Dragonfly asks us to be aware of this, to see clearly, and to reflect gently back upon the World. Dragonfly also speaks to us about the importance of color in our lives. It is proven that certain colors prompt specific emotions.

For example, Red is often seen as an angry aggressive color, but pastel pink is very cool, soothing, and passive. Brown is earthy, green is vibrantly healthy, and blue is calming. Different colors can mean different things to any given individual, of course. Red could symb olize passion and the blood of Life, but it could also symbolize that same life lost in the red flood of Death and War. Dragonfly recommends that you examine the Colors in your life. Are you perhaps longing for new horizons and adventures, but wearing very boring drab colors? Perhaps you don't long for those changes as much as you think! It's a good idea to take a look at what each color means to you and how you use it in your own life. I know that when I am starting a new job, for example, I always feel better if I am in clothing that is not only comfortable, but in colors that soothe me and promote my confidence as well.

"Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world." ~ Hans Margolius

"There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it." ~ George Bernard Shaw

"People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives." ~ J. Michael Straczynski

In Buddhist philosophy Addiction/Desire/Clinging/Delusion are all double-edged swords. Even something good, like Love, can become a negative thing if we don't see it clearly or cling too hard to it. In moderation, Love is beneficial for example, but if we are allowing others to beat or abuse us simply because we don't want to loose their "love"...we are addicted to our own illusions of what Love is or should be. "What do you really loose by letting go of those things you are Addicted to or Deluding yourself over?" She asks. Dragonfly teaches us to break through our self-imposed Illusions and make our best Dreams a reality. By looking into Her mirrored eyes, we can see more deeply into ourselves. How does Dragonfly appear in your life?

"There is a fine line between dreams and reality, it's up to you to draw it. " B. Quilliam

"An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it's in my basement... let me go upstairs and check." ~ M.C. Escher

Deities associated with the Dragonfly: Freya, Ix Chel, Quetzalcoatl, Cernunnos, Shannon and other river deities, Circe, Janus, Achelous and other Potamoi, Oshun, Funza, Bunzi, Mami Wata, Anuket, Barithy, Neath, Tefnut, Isis, and Indra.

Potential Balancing Energies: Water, rainbows, rain, fire, earth, air, the sky and celestial bodies. plants like sundews, cattails, papyrus, lotus, Blue Nile lilies, tiger lilies or bamboo. other insects like mosquito, gnats, cicadas. flies, bees, wasps, butterfly, mantis, moth, or spider. Toads, frogs, salamanders and other amphibians. Fish like bass or salmon, lizards like anole, water dragon, iguana, or chameleon. snakes like coral, water moccasin, checkered keelback, diamondback water snake, or cottonmouth. turtles, crocodiles and other reptiles. Bats, shrews, muskrats, otters, monkeys, and other mammals. kingfishers, swallows, flycatchers, kites and other birds. 

Love in Shades of Amethyst

Heart's Ease
Crown of Athens
Modest, humble, faithful
although not so shy
We hide among the shadows
whispering liminal wisdom
in shades of twilight sky
True of heart, woodland nobles
We herald the Goddess of Spring
encouraging honesty
temperance
self reinvention
cautioning vigilance in all things
Herb of the Trinity becomes cordial sweet
We could stew to thicken your soup
Heart shaped leaves tossed as tasty greens
Our song opens a place within
for contented self acceptance
pressed between pages
Perfumed reminder like
Napoleon's love for Josephine


For those new to the game, each piece is inspired by a teacher found in Nature: a star, stone, plant, animal etc that holds lessons of Wisdom for us. Can you guess who is singing today?