We’ve had fog in Istanbul for the past two days.  It is not so common, we have it only few times a year.  This one was especially thick in the morning and at night, and some of the regular ferry service on the Bosphorus had to be cancelled for hours at a time.

I somehow like the fog, especially in Istanbul because when fog comes along, I loose the sight of buildings and construction and all I can see is the few trees immediately outside my window.  I feel I am almost in the wild, not in a city.  It reminds me of the mystery.  It slows the city down, covers it like snow and silences it.  It almost says nature’s flow above all else.

This time I noticed it accompanied some kind of fog inside that I have been experiencing at the exact same time.  Coincidence? Who knows? Read More

where is the light which protects and guides us
who wanders through darkness looking, looking tirelessly for this,
this light that sees through us, with us, for us and in us
who calls us forth to become who we are
who we are

you will ask where is this light
where can I find it
is it in the moonlight at my window
or in the flicker of this candle
is it hidden somewhere in the books
or in the eyes of strangers or friends alike
where is this light

once upon a time lived a merry man
so the story goes Read More

When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

Mary Oliver from “When Death Comes”
With much gratitude for the light of dear poet Mary Oliver who passed away on Jan 17, 2019.

Sweet sunshine calling in snow
“how can you and I be together?” she asks
“me so warm and you so cold”
snow – though slightly afraid of melting –
can’t help but move closer
and sunshine suddenly forgets,
– her initial question that is –
sweet magnetism…

clouds, thunder, light-ening
and suddenly
abundant rain.

elif

It is that time of the year as they say, “A full year in calendar terms has gone by”.

… Or if we wanted to rephrase the whole thing, we have experienced and played through many moments and added those to our field.  Expanding, expanding, expanding… Read More

 

The oak tree:
not interested
in cherry blossoms.

Matsuo Bashō

in an illusory world  /  that keeps saying
fight or hide  /  come on take a side

sometimes we just need
to stay put  /  and listen
and let grace do the work, Read More