Two poems for my beautiful stranger ...

"Think of me when you're lonely,
because with my thoughts and my soul,
I will keep you company.
Think of me, when you need love,
because I have so much to give you.
Think of me when you need a kiss,
because with my lips I would give you so many...
Think of me at least a second in the day.
because I'll never stop thinking of you."

*********************************************************

The seed was sown
And now the love has grown
I could not have taken
Another day or night alone
I was the definition of lonely
Nobody took the time to know me
But now I can feel it growing
Inside of me
Like springs flower
With every waking hour
I can feel it's power
Washing over me
And I give myself over blissfully
To it's sweet ecstasy
Love has got a grip on me
It started with a kiss
Who would have known
It would come to this
Cupid must have been listening
Because he fired his arrow
Straight at me
And granted me my wish...

The moon came to me last night
With a sweet question.

She said,
"The sun has been my faithful lover
For millions of years.
Whenever I offer my body to him
Brilliant light pours from his heart.
Thousands then notice my happiness
And delight in pointing
Toward my beauty.
Hafiz,
Is it true that our destiny
Is to turn into Light
Itself?"
And I replied,
Dear moon,
Now that your love is maturing,
We need to sit together
Close like this more often
So I might instruct you
How to become
Who you
Are!
~ Hafiz

THE BEAUTIFUL SILENCE BETWEEN US...

Sometimes we speak not because we have anything important or authentic or heartfelt to say, not because we even want to talk, but because we feel uncomfortable, nervous, anxious about not talking. We speak in order to avoid the void, distract from the extraordinary absence at the heart of life. Many people in the modern world find even a few moments of silence in a conversation awkward, uncomfortable, even embarrassing.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In some Native American cultures, it's usual to wait up to several minutes before responding to a question, or taking one’s turn in a conversation. Replying too soon is considered rude. You obviously haven't truly listened to what the other person is saying.
So...
Slow down, friend. Get out of your head and into your body. Take a few moments to just feel your feelings in a conversation. Let yourself feel awkward in the silence if you must! So what? It’s just a sensation, it won't hurt you, and the silence will hold it anyway.
Take the risk that the other person will pick up on your feelings of awkwardness or think that you're boring or weird. Hey, at least you are real. At least you aren’t hiding behind a wall of words. At least you are trying to connect in a deeper way. At least you have the courage to feel and not distract yourself.
Bring some space into your conversations today. Listen. Wait. Respond from presence. Let the conversation breathe.
Remember, our deepest connections are always made in silence. Witness a mother rocking her baby to sleep, two old friends or lovers, a simple walk in nature. Words are not actually necessary at all for us to feel each other, know each other, understand each other very deeply.

When talking about awareness, most of us identify with our awareness through the ego, through the mind and senses. But the true self is in the middle of our chest, in our spiritual heart. So, to get from ego to the true self I said “I am loving awareness.” Loving awareness is the soul. I am loving awareness. I am aware of everything, I’m aware of my body and my senses and my mind, I’m aware of all of it, but I notice that I’m loving all of it. I’m loving all of the world. The self that I identify with emanates from the ocean of love. The self that is the ego is the ocean of fear. When I am loving awareness I’m aware of everything outside, but pulling into the heart, the spiritual heart, brings me to loving awareness. I’m aware of my thoughts, but loving awareness is simply witnessing them. And loving awareness is in the moment. I have thoughts about the past and future, and those are not helpful, so I dive deep into the present and the presence and in this present moment we will find loving awareness. Only this moment is real, this moment of loving awareness. The past and the future are all just thoughts.
In this spiritual heart there is peace, there is contentment, and there is compassion. There is also joy and wisdom, all inside of your spiritual heart and mine. So when you say “I want a peaceful world” you don’t look outside, you go inside where peace exists. In Hinduism the spiritual heart is called the “atman,” and it’s the God within.
In Hinduism there is a story about a horse drawn carriage. The horseman who is on top of the carriage represents the ego, and the spiritual heart or the soul is in the carriage. The horses represent your motivation, and anytime the soul decides that the horse is going the wrong way, the soul takes his stick and taps on the window and tells the horseman to go in a different direction. So most of us identify with the horseman, because you are an incarnation that includes the ego. The soul has come from many previous incarnations, it’s been through many births and deaths and it has no fear. The ego is afraid that when this incarnation is ended, it’s all going to end. The soul knows that he or she goes through incarnation after incarnation. Your incarnation includes your parents, your body, your friends, your culture. I am in this body – this body, my personality, are all in time and space, but I am not in time or space. I am infinite. I am loving awareness.