and

i)

then there’s the garden

the dead squirell 

the dying rat

Montaigne and the cat

squirells, rats, cats, 

ii)

mountains clouds

the sun obscured by them 

mind as clear as a a mirror

minuscule dust alighting

iii)

suffering 

masquerading as happiness 

iv)

shorthand 

trying not to be cheap or shallow 

v)

endless time 

lavishing forgiveness on 

world weary insensitivity

vi)

freedom from suffering

is offered in the form of knowing

I have no more right to be here

than a rat

I am part of nature

a dead squirell has no squirellness

...but then again

the harder it pounds -

strangely - I feel more at peace 

in union

     something beyond words

knowledge beyond understanding

sustaining and upholding 

light as breath

     something beyond death

that which is sensed and thought

but not pursued - experienced

at the very heart of things

    something eternally now

constant in its changing

slowly unfurling

evolving

   something breathing in and out