Family, Friends, Community,
This morning I awoke after a night of unease.
No birds were singing for the new day.
Overcast, grey and hushed.
Darn it
darkness has descended here too.
Memory stirs,
today an annular eclipse was lending us a pause.
I went outside.
Small birds were perched in the trees and bushes.
Peckish squirrels, Feralina; the cat, 
and the bold twin crows were all together
sitting on the ground in a semi circle.
Eyes slightly closed and skyward.
No vying for seeds, nuts or one another.
I sit quietly with them while
together we get eclipsed.

These days
move rapidly into blurred months.
Humans have not come together
to take pause,
and answer for
our immoral crimes,
our complacency,
our hate.
Humans eclipse others 
for self aggrandizement
religious authority,
ethnic & gender purity,
and geo political hegemony.
There never is justification
for violent acts in the name 
of these ideologies.

Our movement
towards coming together
begins with a pause.
Each day
to be brave
in the dark.
I call it
Inner Eclipsing.
It fortifies us
in knowing
there will always be
the eternal light.

May this forever light
shine upon 
all those who suffer
and free them 
from the causes of suffering.

Om Shanti 
Shanti Om

M

May Peace Eclipse Us

ומִכֹּל קָלִיעַ מְבַקֵּשׁ נַפְשָׁם

U'fros aleinu sukkat shlomecha (Hebrew)
"cover us with the shelter of Your peace, may we have the courage to denounce violence and destructiveness, and may we become partners in building that shelter of peace.”


ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ

As-salamu alaykum (Arabic)
Peace be upon you.