I’m terrified of deep water, sharks, and barracudas;
of long dark tunnels with no end or light in sight.
I have been a lonesome traveler, a Journeyman Seeker,
at home in prayers, a fan of metaphor and paradox;
a window builder, a carpenter, a teacher,
a lover of wine, Beethoven, and Mary Oliver;
of my children and grandchildren and dear friends;
of art, pianos, poetry, caresses, and sky blue eyes;
of an embrace that says I will never let you go.
My journeys have taken me
to the depths of the Grand Canyon,
the rugged heights of the Sierra Nevada,
to deserts, forests, and the Columbia River Bar,
to the Pacific’s boisterous, unrelenting surf,
and into the inexplicable presence of the Divine.
Everything I have seen and done has been a blessing.
I have mellowed with age, my face weathered, my hair thinned,
disregarding anything a mirror has to say, a small price paid
for stepping into and out of nature’s spiritual mysteries,
embracing passion and risking a vulnerable heart laid bare,
for without passion, we won’t know where love will take us,
we won’t know a way into the depth of love and trust,
we won’t know the wondrous heat of a lover’s fiery kiss.
From: A Preface to the Universe
Unpub. MS p. 57
