Category: Tenneson Woolf Poetry

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Waking Vow

Waking Vow
Tenneson Woolf

It is just after 6:00 in the morning.
Birds are chirping vibrantly, as they do.
The sky is a matte blue, not yet kissed by the direct rays of sun 
asdthat will soon reach over the Wasatch Mountains. 
Lawn and garden sprinklers cycle through programmed schedules.

All of it brings a freshness.
A new day, a commitment.
A naturalness, an ongoingness.
asdA reliability.
All things that I’ve struggled to feel over the last many months.

It seems true to me that most of us 
seek the aliveness of a new morning, 
that calls us into fresh being. 
asdThat wakes us to what wants to be lived fully.
That invokes our vow of a next flowering step.

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What A Heart Continues to Learn

My heart continues to learn that simple things are often potent things.
With slightest of my attention, I remember.
That the beauty of blossom invites flowering from within and with others.
That the persistence of rhubarb calls forth an irrepressible bigness..
That the coffee with a tinge of chocolate can swirl surprising delight.

My heart continues to learn that joy and love are radical and astounding gifts and practices.
With slightest of my openness, I remember.
That human beings everywhere enjoy play.
That human beings everywhere wish kindness in things small and large.
That even in the fights of our times, there is blessing that cherishes our company.



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The Next Step

Yup, that’s attractive way of living for me, perhaps for many of us. Thx Rumi, 13th century Persian Poet. Thx Michael Meade for posting and guiding as you do. There is something inherent, I believe in most, that seeks both the simple steps, and the ways that simple steps grow to practiced ways of being and to organic ways of planning. There is something inherent, I believe in many, that wishes to cultivate such clarity, courage, and love of way-forming.

With that in mind, these words from my fingers to keyboard this morning. Sometimes in my poetry, I get strong urge to write lines with one word. I suppose such lines are like simple steps way-walking.

For inspiration.

Just 
the 
next 
step, 
please.

There are many of us, right,
that
long
to be filled,
and emptied,
by
the 
now.

There are many of us, right,
that
long
to welcome,
and enjoy,
such 
potent
life.

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Deep Invitation

I had one of those nights that wasn’t all sleep. The sleep was good, when I slept. And about 4:00 I woke with lots of ideas and dreams coming to call on me.

It’s regular practice for me to journal. To catch some of those ideas and dreams. And over the last five years, the form of that journalling has become quite prosed. Truth is, it just helps me to see it better. Not that different than the seeing better that many of us find in images. Or pause. Or sound. Or…

For inspiration.

This is a time 
when I’m called 
to live more deeply 
into the values that I so espouse for and with others.

A season,
of courageous listening and practice,
of aspirations and clarity that lift
life and love.

It’s not too surprising 
that I, or anyone seeking to live alive and awake,
would feel such times of change and challenge.

Kindness seeks kindness.
Consciousness organizes with consciousness.
Mystery wants to play with mystery.

Perhaps Life is working me and us,
or playing me and us, 
or inviting me and us.

Or just doing what Life does,  
what it can’t not do,
like the sun does what the sun does,
and like the river does what the river does.

What a delightful miracle
to feel aliveness,
alone and with others,
in this continued unfolding
of deep invitation.

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Gifts of Circle - Question Cardsasd
Gifts of Circle is 30 short essays divided into 4 sections: 1) Circle's Bigger Purpose, 2) Circle's Practice, 3) Circle's First Requirements, and 4) Circle's Possibility for Men. From the Introduction: "Circle is what I turn to in the most comprehensive stories I know -- the stories of human beings trying to be kind and aware together, trying to make a difference in varied causes for which we need to go well together. Circle is also what I turn to in the most immediate needs that live right in front of me and in front of most of us -- sharing dreams and difficulties, exploring conflicts and coherences. Circle is what I turn to. Circle is what turns us to each other."

Question Cards is an accompanying tool to Gifts of Circle. Each card (34) offers a quote from the corresponding chapter in the book, followed by sample questions to grow your Circle hosting skills and to create connection, courage, and compassionate action among groups you host in Circle.

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In My Nature is a collection of 10 poems. From A Note of Beginning: "This collection of poems arises from the many conversations I've been having about nature. Nature as guide. Nature as wild. Nature as organized. I remain a human being that so appreciates a curious nature in people. That so appreciates questions that pick fruit from inner being, that gather insights and intuitions to a basket, and then brings the to table to be enjoyed and shared over the next week."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in In My Nature. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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Most Mornings is a collection of 37 poems. I loved writing them. From the introduction: "This collection of poems comes from some of my sense-making that so often happens in the morning, nurtured by overnight sleep. The poems sample practices. They sample learnings. They sample insights and discoveries. They sample dilemmas and concerns."

This set of Note Cards (8 cards + envelopes)  quotes a few favorite passages from poems in Most Mornings. I offer them as inspiration. And leave room for you to write personal notes.

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