Sunnyside Up 2013 by Drea
“it joined its two sisters in the house of hearing”
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/sunnyside-up-2013-drea-jensen.html

Bone
By Mary Oliver

1.

Understand, I am always trying to figure out
what the soul is,
and where hidden,
and what shape-

and so, last week,
when I found on the beach
the ear bone
of a pilot whale that may have died

hundreds of years ago, I thought
maybe I was close
to discovering something-
for the ear bone

2.

is the portion that lasts longest
in any of us, man or whale; shaped
like a squat spoon
with a pink scoop where

once, in the lively swimmer’s head,
it joined its two sisters
in the house of hearing,
it was only

two inches long-
and thought: the soul
might be like this-
so hard, so necessary-

3.

yet almost nothing.
Beside me
the gray sea
was opening and shutting its wave-doors,

unfolding over and over
its time-ridiculing roar;
I looked but I couldn’t see anything
through its dark-knit glare;

yet don’t we all know, the golden sand
is there at the bottom,
though our eyes have never seen it,
nor can our hands ever catch it

4.

lest we would sift it down
into fractions, and facts-
certainties-
and what the soul is, also

I believe I will never quite know.
Though I play at the edges of knowing,
truly I know
our part is not knowing,

but looking, and touching, and loving,
which is the way I walked on,
softly,
through the pale-pink morning light.

Worthy 2014 by Drea
When eyes appraise we feel powerfully known. Art demands courage and authenticity.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/worthy-2014-drea-jensen.html

Worthiness
By Drea
 
Eyes appraise,
powerfully known,
seek worthiness.
 
Demand courage,
authenticity,
acquiesce to inner strength.
 
Create space sacredly,
peaceful expansion,
vivid expression.
 
Open to success,
relax into being,
confidence simply not from this world.

Acquiesce 2014 by Drea
During the lengthy days of summer we welcome solstice sun.
It is a time to defer to sensitivity and recognize change patiently.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/acquiesce-2014-drea-jensen.html

 
Summer Solstice 2014
By Drea
 
Lengthy days of summer,
welcome solstice sun,
respond consciously.
 
Self discovery,
with gentle intention,
artful pleasure.
 
Defer to sensitivity,
recognize change patiently,
indulge in paradox.

Four Sacred Directions 2002 by Drea
“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/four-sacred-directions-2002-drea-jensen.html

The Summer Day
By Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Possibility 2011 by Drea
The emotion and feeling of one’s self can be seen in so many things outside of our everyday lives.
A leap of faith provides opportunity and action leads to a potential vision.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/possibility-2011-drea-jensen.html

Pulses Pull
By Drea
 
Come alive
nature of pleasure
attract unexpected beauty.
 
Temptation
support growth
compliment artistic soul.
 
Be humble
aware of emotion
magnetic pulses pull.
 
Lustful knowing
iconic fantasy
foretell future bliss.
 

Prayer for Cameron 2013 by Drea
The ability to stay strong and see the good when things are pushing down around you can go a long way, positivity is worth far more than some think.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/prayer-for-cameron-2013-drea-jensen.html

Honey House
By Drea

In the honey house
sweet, sticky love
act of pollination

Liquid amber
fragrant thin walls

Heavy wax residue
broken hexagon pieces

Reconfigure
with adoration
for this mystery of nature.

Devotion 2012 by Drea
Following what we believe in always ends with a positive outcome.
Dedication and passion generate beautiful structure in our world.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/devotion-2012-drea-jensen.html

With Certainty

By Drea

Where we stand
feels safe
awash over our being.

Trustworthy rising
shake the sadness from our eyes
content to tremble or sigh.

Release expectation
by tasting the salt between thighs
wildness wins with certainty.

Arrival 2002 by Drea Jensen
The blue triangles and trapezoids represent peace and joy, a meditation on color and shape.
A moment of reconciliation when the body and mind relax into spirit.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/arrival-2002-drea-jensen.html

Goldfinches by Mary Oliver

Some goldfinches were having a melodious argument
at the edge of a puddle. The birds wanted to bathe, or
perhaps just to dip their heads and look at themselves,
and they were having trouble with who should be
first, and so on. So they discussed it while I stood in
the distance, listening. Perhaps in Tibet, in the old
holy places, they also have such fragile bells. Or are
these birds really just that, bells come to us~come to
this road in America~let us bow our heads and
remember now how we used to do it, say a prayer.
Meanwhile the birds bathe and splash and have a
good time. Then they fly off, their dark wings opening
from their bright, yellow bodies; their tiny feet,
all washed, clasping the air.

Honey 2013 by Drea Jensen
May the divine feminine bless us all with her honey bees! http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/honey-2013-drea-jensen.html

Give Way
By Drea

We are often right,
observers search for the observed.

Feel the heat of combustive passion,
connect to our creativity.

Spirit guide us to know,
space give way to timing.

Roots unseen support growth,
the light of passion in our eye.

Find a way to celebrate,
embrace spacious knowing.

Life bring love right to our door,
of the sacrifice made.

Our name spoken remind us
that we embrace this path.

Inspiration 2012 by Drea Jensen
One small stone in a pond can create a ripple as large as the pond,
just like a small idea can grow into a masterpiece.
http://dreajensengallery.artistwebsites.com/featured/inspiration-2012-drea-jensen.html

Meanwhile
By Mary Oliver

Lord, my body is not yet a temple,
But only one of your fair fields.
An empty field that nobody wants, at least not yet.
But even here the lily is somewhere,
Sometimes it lifts its head above the grasses,
The daises, the milkweed, the mallow.

And sometimes, like us, it sleeps, or at least
Leans below the blades of the grasses.
Lord, I live as you have made me to live.
I bite hungrily into the peach and the turnip.
I bite, with sorrow, into the calf and the lamb.
I drink the tears of the clouds.

I praise the leaves of the shrub oaks
And the pine trees in their bold coats.
I listen and give thanks to the catbird and the thrush.
Meanwhile, the fox knows where you are.
The bees leave the swamp azalea and fly straight
To the shadow of your face.

Meanwhile my body is rustic and brash.
The world I live in is hedges, and small blossoms.
Lord, consider me, and my earnest work.
A hut I have made, out of the grasses.
Now I build the door, out of all things brash and rustic.
Day and night it is open.
Have you seen it yet, among the grasses?

How it longs for you?
How it tries to shine, like gold?