The coin has two sides and yet joins as one.

Joy, happiness, love, compassion and empathy form one side of the coin.
Sadness, sorrow, anger, barrenness, and pain form the other.
The illusion is that both sides are separate, or even the same.
A story perpetuated by ego.

The truth is there is no coin.
It exists as product of ego and illusion.
The ego is the storyteller, a spinner of tales, myths and fables: illusions.
The storyteller wants to dazzle with wisdom and knowledge: illusions.
The storyteller wants us to believe it is the reality of being, an illusion.

What the storyteller doesn’t see is the light.
The light allows the storyteller to create and accept these visions of reality.
The light watches, aware of the storyteller and the stories.
The light illuminates all the storytellers, telling all their stories, perpetuating all the illusions.
The light just is.

When the storyteller spins a story of gloom and doom, the sky is filled with dark clouds.
When the storyteller spins a story of joy and happiness, the sky is filled with rainbows.
Constant are the storytellers cycling through their stories; heard often, well known and projected as reality.
As the cycle flows, attention is on either the clouds or the rainbows.
Rarely, if at all, does it notice the sky which is always there.

Rainbows today
clouds tomorrow
trumpet the way
from joy to sorrow
a cycle of fears
a cycle of dreams
none of them truly
the way they do seem.

The questions they come
they seem so sincere
each one propelled
by desire so clear
a fleeting relief
exposes the lie
desires constant change
desires road to die.

The eyes see the truth
when focused inside
where all is exposed
where lies go to die
the sky opens up
it’s so clear to see
the truth does exist
let it be, let it be.

 

 

 

Catcher, Just A Cat?

A little over ten and a half years ago I went to a shelter in South Dade County with the intent of adopting a cat.

I wanted a cat because I was working long hours and believed it would not be right to keep a dog confined for such periods of time. I was looking for an older cat thinking it would be good for both of us.

The shelter was a small place with the animals housed in cages. They said they let them out for exercise each day and they did appear to be healthy. There was a room where the perspective cat would meet with the person to see if they were a match. The first cat was a female of about two years old. It was obvious from the start we were not meant to be.

The next cat to catch my eye was a little black and white ball of energy. He was around three months old. He was thought to have been born in December and had been found on the streets at about six weeks old. They took him out of the cage and he went on a tear. It was not that he would have nothing to do with me, it just had to be on his terms.

They had named him Catcher because he had the extra toe on his front paws. He was fearless, jumping everywhere and totally resistant to being held. He was perfect.

I took him home and he hid for two days. He would venture out for water and food when I was not around. He slowly started to become more adventurous, checking things out, attacking the plants and my feet as I walked. He played rough and my arms looked like I had been in a knife fight, for months.

At the vets office when they saw my arms they suggested that I have him declawed but I was having none of that. They said that if he did not stop it I would have to have him put down when he was bigger. Not a chance I knew.

In spite of her clawed arms, Saskia socialized his aggressive behavior by chasing him down and holding him tightly until he would stop resisting. She would ease her hold and he would take off. She did this for months, actually for years, and I think it finally became a game with them. He became a much more approachable cat.

Over the years in Miami we would not let him roam outside even though he wanted very much to do so. We had a walled in back deck and we would let him out there. He loved to explore and lay in the sun. Often he would attempt the great escape over the wall and we would have to bring him back. Blood was drawn on a number of occasions, always ours.

When we moved to the mountains it became increasingly difficult to keep him inside. About eight months ago we started letting him out by himself on a more frequent basis. He loved being outside and enjoyed the ability to go in and out, sometimes in the front door just to go out the back. He would lay in the sun on the deck, at peace. He would walk with us when we walked the dogs. He became much more affectionate.

He roamed the mountain side and knew it in all directions. He would rarely be gone for more that a few hours and would come home to eat or take a nap. Life was good.

I let him out about nine o’clock last Thursday morning. He did not return that day nor that night. We called and searched for him but it did no good. All day Friday and into the night we watched and called to no avail. We were worried. We have a fox that passes by here and we know they prey on small animals. Also, the temperature has been in the low teens here on the mountain side for several nights.

      I Will EscapeSaturday morning, Saskia walked down the drive to the mailbox at the road as we were expecting a package. She was gone a good while. I went outside to start to look for her and heard her sobbing. She was coming down the hill in the opposite direction she had gone down. I could see she was carrying something wrapped in her jacket. I knew she had found Catcher.

      Freedom Is Just Another Word For Nothing Left To LoseWe brought him to the house and it appeared as if he had been injured. His body was frozen. We laid him in wake for a couple of hours for our two dogs and our other cat to have a chance to know his passing in whatever way they have of understanding.

He was our friend, our companion and our teacher. He was a true warrior who has joined the light and now his true spirit is free to roam the universe.

We travel together
on different planes
our destiny is one
I’m still with you
I am a ray
while you, you’ve joined the sun.

 

And the coin?
Well, it feels so damn real.

And Catcher, no, not just a cat?

December 2005 – December 2016