Category: Autumn Anthems

Morning comes laughing,
pulling you from your cobweb of dreams
into the spaciousness of a new day.

“Here,” she says, pouring her light all over your head,
“have some freshly brewed hues. They should get you going.”
And all of a sudden, there’s nothing but right now, stunning and bright.

It’s hard to argue with a sunrise. I mean here she is,
dazzling across the whole sky,
hauling an entire fresh day of possibilities behind her
where you can write anything you please.

Why, you could change your whole life if you wanted.
Who’s to stop you? Your old stories are no more real
than the dreams she just wiped away.

You could push your best wishes out there,
roll them right into the minutes, see where they go.

Why, with a sky this full of magic, anything is possible.

Given a choice (and always, a choice is given),
choose what is loveliest. Choose those things
to which your heart says, “Yes.”
Choose generosity over grudging.
Choose kindness over that which is mean.
Let your eyes rest on that which speaks of beauty.
Give your attention to that which lifts
over that which pushes down.
Look for the openings.
Reach for what encourages
over what shames, what builds
over that which undermines,
what heals rather than harms.
Nourish your soul. Given a choice,
(and always, a choice is given)
choose love.

The afternoon light settles on the creek
as gently as a dove and sits there,
motionless, except for the ruffling
of its feathery ripples, as the colors
of this early autumn day spill
over the rocks, and then rest,
shimmering, beneath the fallen leaves.

Here’s the thing about autumn.
You forget, no matter how vivid
your memory, the way that it dazzles,
the way it makes you believe
that you’ve seen nothing like this
before, nothing this stunning,
nothing that stops you
in your tracks holding your breath
to get your bearings. How
can this be, this outpouring
of gold? This sudden shining?
It’s as if the robes of the Yes
Itself were unfurling right there
before you.

When the world seems to be falling all around you,
climb up to a bit of higher ground.
A new point of view can change everything.
Where there were obstacles, spaces open,
pathways appear. Signs emerge
to point you in the right direction.
And letting go of your confusion,
you will come to see
that it’s all quite beautiful
after all.

You can’t go from emerald to crimson overnight.
No great work happens in the blink of an eye.
First you need a vision: Let us paint these woods
in autumn hues. Then you may begin.
And once you have begun, you must keep on.
A swath of red here, a bit of gold there, some orange,
a touch of yellow. Keep on, hour by hour,
trusting, singing work’s joy, knowing your vision
was born of the Yes and that the Yes
will unfailingly guide your hand.