People by Patrick JenningsJan 15, 20167:30 am

My Bright Mantra

Eight years ago, right about this time, my life was a process of transformations. Significant ones. Life changers. World changers. Personal, spiritual, career, love: you name it, it was changing. It seemed like Bif Naked had a song for every single transformation, every single condition I was experiencing.

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 14, 20163:38 pm

Devil's Marbles, Simpson Desert, Northern Territory, Australia

Tree of Life

The sky is source

sun, rain, wind
the seasons

And I?

I spread my branches
all grace and reverence

basking in magnificence

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 13, 20167:11 pm

Prayer Wheels

Clockwise. Always clockwise. Clockwise round. Walking, spinning. Always clockwise. The wheels turn, continue turning, after they pass. Some turn and turn and turn while others fight against the inertia. Pilgrims, bright and tattered, or bright, or tattered. Some of these too will turn and turn, always clockwise, round the cluster of buildings capped in gold and brass at Labrangsi.

I will not count them: the prayer wheels, the meters, the pilgrims, the steps, the number of times I will feel the smooth patina of wood against my palm. I say to Emma: “I want to do this.” She assents.

Landscape by Patrick JenningsJan 12, 20169:01 pm

Near Joshua Tree National Park, California, United States of America

Velocity

The world reels by, unfurling at 90 miles an hour. At this speed, travel gains the sense of dance even on a relatively straight, flat interstate such as this section of I-395. I am aware of the countryside, the gentle undulations of the valley floor contrasting the angular gyrations of slowly eroding hillsides; I am aware of the thinning stands of Joshua Tree and can pick out a few individual shapes for their magnificence or their decrepitude; I notice the snowline band so evenly frosting the hill tops, that I am climbing toward the line, that I am now above it and that the snow along the roadside proceeds from spare dollops to a thin crust with mesquite poking through.

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 11, 20166:45 pm

Ming Dynasty Great Wall, Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, The People's Republic of China

To ride

It’s a little like water skiing, slalom, on a lake of glass. The sand between scattered clumps of thorny, ground-hugging scrub. Tires floating. Subtle adjustments on the handlebars as the tail slides, as the bike leans and yaws, as the turn that will right it comes around, slowly, slowly. Pedaling, pedaling.

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 10, 20161:06 pm

Waiting ~ Pic and a Word Challenge #19

I wait
For the flood tide of tourists
Arriving on buses
Destined for Islands
And secluded beaches

Carrying their openness
And prejudice
With equal tenacity
Conscious only
Of their openness

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 9, 20167:00 am

Route 66, Mojave Desert, California, United States of America

Heavy Rail

Surprised
I am
As always

While steel rails compress
Concrete ties depress
And the ground rumbles
Trembling underfoot

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 8, 20163:36 pm

Monks boots outside a temple, Labrang Si Monastery, Xiahe, Gansu, China

Unencumbered

Unencumbered, must I enter
Unattached
Unburdened

Burdens weigh me down
Attachments distract me
Encumbrances hold me back

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 8, 201610:42 am

Stairway in the Heavens

She couldn’t afford
The stairway to heaven
So there it was

Floating weightless
Just beyond the reach of those
Born too low, or fallen too far

Poetry by Patrick JenningsJan 7, 20167:00 am

Beach Sand, Chesterman Beach, Tofino, British Columbia, Canada

She saw them dancing

In the moving sand
She saw them dancing
The elves and sprites
No one else saw

She found that sad
The world was a more beautiful place
When magical creatures danced
A shame no one else knew the magic