Joyce's Bird Poems

These poems have been written weekly for a meditation/poetry sharing/lunch 

group at the Labyrinth at the Bribie Art Centre.  My bird (shown above) is part 

of a mini-mural I painted in our back yard - and the format of the first few 

were inspired by poems from Leunig.   Enjoy!!!  Joyce   0439 329 334

26 June 2020

Oh Plunging Bird
Who brings us both the darkness of death and endings
And the infinite joy of life and new beginnings
Grant us courage and trust
To focus on the joy of living in this amazing world
To touch that inner peace

Which will guide us through these challenging times.

03 July 2020

Oh Rejoicing Bird
Bringing freedom from our pointless struggles
Help us enter the depths of the mystery
That holds and nourishes us,
And connects us to the strength and courage
To let our Joy and gratitude

Engulf all creation.

10 July 2020

Oh Crying Bird

I feel your tears of sorrow

At our empty and silent landscapes and dying oceans

As all of earth's creatures struggle to survive

Harsher climates and destruction of their homes.

Help me to rejoice in the ever-present beauty and mystery of life

And to know that your tears will comfort and guide us as our journey unfolds,

And we learn to truly rejoice that we are alive together now.

17 July 2020

Oh Soaring Bird,

We watch in awe as you soar high in delight and freedom

While we cower on the earth, struggling with our fears,

And the realisation that we live in the shadow of advancing disasters

And have little or no control of when, where, or how they might happen.

Help us to fly with you into the wider reality,

And learn to trust ourselves and the mysteries of life,

And discover the joy of soaring free through life together,

Knowing that All is Well.

21 July 2020

Oh Rejoicing Bird,

Help me find something to rejoice about with Janet on her 4oth birthday today,

As she is far away in New Zealand at the time we had planned to be together

for her celebration.

I am overwhelmed and saddened by the looming possibility that we will forever

 be separated by insane boundaries created and maintained by mankind’s fear of 

death, and our leaders’ inability to assess and quantify risks,

Until our collective belief that we are superior to and separate from nature 

results in the destruction of us all.

Remind me of the miracle of the amazing ties that have linked us in very special

 ways over the years,

And continue to provide much joy even when we are apart,

As they continue to link our ‘separate’ lives thorough our mutual wonder and 

joy 

in nature and the mystery of it all.

Help me remember how we have enriched each other’s lives with many 

adventures and projects over the years,

And to truly realise that these links between us are sacred, and that the dance of

 life that we now share, though physically separated, is the Greatest Gift of the

 Universe,

And that All is Well.

30 July 2020

Oh Laughing Bird,

I hear and feel your laughter everywhere, and part of me rejoices as I know that

laughter has the power to open our eyes to new ways of seeing and thinking, and

 to connect us to the wider reality.

Yet, I am annoyed that you are laughing while our irrational fears that we

harbour a viscous and deadly virus that at any moment might destroy us all 

have led us to panicking and putting barriers between us that damage many of

the precious links that connect and sustain us all. These fears have become our

dogma and our ONLY Truth, making us unable to evaluate other gentler ways of 

living together in safety and to fully appreciate our amazing world. Why do we 

fear death so deeply that we cannot recognise that we are part of nature, and 

to make us unable and unwilling to trust her wisdom?

Is your laughter mocking us and our fears or are you laughing in joy because you 

can see and help us through these fears? Help us to join in your freeing laughter 

so we can open to and marvel at the amazing complexity of life which we 

understand so little of, and so we can find the strength, courage and clarity to 

explore new paths through our fears to a deeper understanding of life. And to 

know that All is Well.

7 August 2020

Oh Wise and Caring Bird,

How I struggle to see you as wise and caring, and not just living in your own 

imaginary world of laughter, and joy!!! Part of me longs to believe in. and

become truly part of your world – but all my senses suggest that I must be

crazy to think that your reality has any meaning for me and all other earth-

bound creatures in our troubled world today. I fear that mankind is increasingly 

hell-bent on destroying all we have and creating misery for ourselves in all 

possible ways. How can we laugh and feel joy when our every-day reality is so

 bleak, and so many people are suffering and living with no joy in their lives, 

blinded by their fears both of life and of death?

Help me to understand the paradox that this time of great pain for so many can

 be also a time of greatest joy and laughter, as these are the true energies of our 

existence, and the greater reality which created us all. Help me to remember 

that awareness of and gratitude for the miracle of life can light the pathway out 

of my dilemma. Help me also to accept that I have the choice in every moment, 

and in everything I do to make the effort to open to this wider reality – and 

that I can make this choice only for myself, and not for others.

And to through this journey, to truly to know that All is Well.

14 August 2020

Oh Golden Bird,

I am slowly sensing that you do have a heart of gold, and that opening to your 

belief in the power of joy and laughter can help me open to the wider reality,

 and through that, to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the miracle of 

life. However, I am frightened and confused by the way believing that I am ‘right’

both rules my life and separates me from others, and enhances my life – often

at the same time!! There seems to be no limit to what we can believe in, or to 

the way one set of beliefs can make alternative beliefs either completely invisible

or seem completely ridiculous to us. Many of my personal beliefs are very 

different from those of people around me. They do come from an inner knowing 

that feels similar to your wisdom, and they do seem to continually enrich my 

life – but it is increasingly difficult to trust this will continue in these very 

troubled and rapidly changing times.

Help me to continually hone and reevaluate my beliefs so that they remain fluid,

 and enrich my life, and help me live with joy and laughter, rather than to hide 

in fear of life. As our world descends into chaos, help me to use your wisdom to 

guide me into the chaos, to help me to support others, and when the time is 

right, to die in gratitude at having lived at these fascinating times, and to have

 been able to appreciate at least some of the amazing mystery of life.

 And to know All is Well.

21 August 2020

Oh Troubled Bird,

I panic in disappointment and confusion as I realise you have joined me in my self-

imposed gloom and misery. Have you too lost your faith in the power of joy and 

laughter to connect both of us with what is real and worthwhile in life – both the life 

as we experience day by day, and in the unseen worlds beyond? Have we both come to

a point where we cannot see beyond our wallowing in grief and disbelief at the mess 

and misery that is unfolding more clearly before us each day? If you can’t maintain a 

positive attitude through all this chaos, how can I ever hope to do that?

Or perhaps your troubled demeanour and your joining me in my misery shows me that 

it IS safe to experience deeply these frustrations of being alive today and unable to

 influence or change our uncertain future. Are you really with me even when I am 

experiencing times of darkness and despair? Can you still give me the strength and 

confidence to both look fully, openly, and consciously at what it happening around and

 within me, so I can fully experience and appreciate the complexity of the human spirit

 including the depths of our stupidity and ineptness – and to somehow also remember 

the healing power of joy and laughter?

Help me to feel your continuing presence through these dark times and to truly know

that life is a tapestry, and the darker colours make the brighter ones shine even more

 brightly. And that ultimately through experiencing BOTH the darkness, and the joy 

and laughter in the miracle of life, I will truly know that All is Well.

27 August 2020

Oh Playful Bird,

I watch in amazement as you joyfully play and soar in the wind, seemingly 

without a care in the world. Don’t you realise that life is sacred, and should not 

be put at risk with such child-like behaviour, and that more importantly, adults 

must not waste their precious lives with such unproductive and irresponsible 

activities? Where would we all be if we valued more highly the delights and

challenges of exploring our limits and creativity, and of experiencing more 

deeply and more freely our amazing world, than we value the serious and 

proper adult business of keeping ourselves and others safe and free of ‘disease’, 

and our economy growing?

Help me to see more clearly that our lives are not serious businesses to be 

productive and prolonged at all costs, but instead gifts we are given by the

 universe, of which we are truly part, to enable us experience joyously and with

laughter all that our world has to offer. And to be ever aware that 

the excitement, creativity and freedom of play will help us all open to the true 

magic and incredible breadth, depth and interconnectedness of our world in all 

its dimensions.

And that somehow, despite our looming disasters and chaos,

All is Well.

  

31 August 2020

Farewell my beloved bird,

I didn’t imagine that I would ever write these words – I always believed that I would forever (or at least for my remaining weeks or months on earth) have you with me as a constant companion. I have enjoyed and been strengthened by your weekly words of wisdom and have no idea how I will cope without them! And above all, I have an almost pathological fear of endings and the loss and sorrow that they bring – surely the pain they bring is in complete contrast to your words of joy and laughter.

But now I sense that you feel that it is time for us to part ways, and my inner sensing agrees with this sad but necessary ending. I hope that this ending isn’t because you are frustrated by my seemingly endless negativity. Unfortunately (though I do realise that speaking from the heart is never unfortunate), I do clearly believe that we are rapidly approaching the edge of a precipice that we will soon fall over for any of a large number of reasons, and may well suffer before we are killed. How can you leave me to face this advancing disaster alone, and how can I cope without your strength and wisdom?

In this our last time together, help me to see that I now need to find and trust my own wisdom so that I can find my own path into the future, wherever it may take me, and that through this deeper and clearer connection with my own being, I wlll finally truly learn that All is Well.

Thank you, dear friend, for your help and inspiration, and farewell!!

Chapter 2

1 August 2020

Oh Confused Joyce,

Even writing my name throws me into a confused world of wondering who or what I am, and how I am connected to the rest of ‘reality’ (if reality exists). I find myself continually demanding clear, correct and immediate answers to these questions. I can no longer look to my bird for answers - though my bird does remain part of me as one of my many happy memories, and as for all these memories, brings me peace, happiness, and joy.

How should I start finding a way out of my self- induced confusion, if indeed this is possible? First, perhaps I should stop trying to find answers and start accepting that it is alright not to know In words that which perhaps cannot be expressed in words. I can truly experience the meaning of life by playing with both ideas and materials, creating, and experimenting to see what feels most right for me. Second, I will fill my life with joy and laughter through music, friendships, art, and nature. When circumstances make this more challenging, I can at least keep aware of the joy that is the universe, and find and open to as much beauty as possible in these darker moments.

Does this all sound familiar, as though suggested by my bird – and many others? Somehow, coming from the inner me makes it all more personal and livable, and easier to believe that this indeed is a simple road to really knowing that All is Well.

11 September 2020

Oh Smiling Joyce,

I can feel my outer smile rising from a growing inner smile and comfort knowing that my bird, with all its joy and laughter has truly become part of me. (I might also just be acknowledging the smiles that have always been there, and unused for many years from fears of being wrong, or of not being serious or ‘proper’ enough.)

I am discovering that through opening to these smiles that I can also gently open to my deep and at times overwhelming grief that we are destroying our world, that man’s stupidity, and ineptness means we are unable to see and prevent the coming disasters, – and that I will die soon. Through experiencing the pain and sorrow of this grief, I have discovered that it overlies an amazing Hallelujah of joy and wonder at the miracle of life, the unity of everything, and the privilege of being alive at these very special times.

I want to cherish and nurture my increasing strength and clarity through gratitude, laughter, play, music, creativity, and sharing with others – and most importantly through reaching out to the beauty and healing depths of nature. I also need to remember that this deeper and clearer knowing will help me to release my fear-filled and grief-filled desire to control how our future unfolds,

and to truly know that All is Well.

18 September 2020

Oh Amazing Joyce.

Amazement is the best word I can find to describe my reactions when I look deep within my being and find zillions of contradictions (as well as my joyous bird apparently enjoying life in this very strange, and seemingly quite toxic inner environment). I do feel increasing joy, playfulness and zest for life, but this is most often completely entangled with fear and greed. Is my inner mess just part of the ‘human condition’ which I ‘should’ accept with a stiff upper lip?

My fears can be roughly grouped into two categories – fear of discomfort and change (especially endings), and fear of the unknown. This latter fear has become a rapidly growing pandemic of often self-righteous horror at the many disasters all too many people see rising from a relatively harmless virus, and the rest of our amazing and absolutely essential microbiota. Greed is equally ubiquitous in both my inner being and the surrounding society – especially the greed for more time at any cost on our increasingly embattled and endangered planet.

Help me to become more aware of and to embrace these fears and greed with laughter and compassion. Help me to discover that through creativity and playfulness, I can explore the riches inside these ‘darker’ emotions, and let them help me open to the ultimate truth of our times –

That All is Well.

28 September 2020

Oh Tortured Joyce,

Pain has descended and envelopes my life. Has my mental and emotional pain about the state of the world, and the rapidly advancing chaos and end of our civilisation started erupting from my physical body? Why do I feel the need to torture myself so? Why can’t I just happily and joyfully continue the almost pain-free life I have enjoyed for almost 74 years?

Pain IS part of the complex fabric of life, and only through experiencing pain can I truly start to appreciate what so many others are experiencing, and explore another side of my emotions. Pain gives me a shock in the way little else can as it brings me in contact with my inner being. Pain, like death, is not to be feared or avoided, but to be cherished as a gateway to clearer view of reality.

I want to to learn from this new reality to flow with what is rather than to fear and battle against what is happening, and to fully accept and open to the new experiences I am being offered. Perhaps such acceptance will let joy and laughter to continue to grow in my life – and to know more clearly that

All is Well.

2 October 2020

Oh Celebrating Joyce,

How in the world can I celebrate when I am struggling with my own physical and emotional pain and the pain of a dying world, as well as my growing recognition of my own impending death? Celebration – rejoicing in awe and joy in gratitude for something special (like life???) - seems a very weird response to this depressing current situation. Are not complaining, moaning and general gloom more reasonable responses to such looming disasters in this dismal world?

In order to celebrate at such a time, I realise I must be able to embrace the wonder and the beauty of the whole complex, marvellous, and ever-changing cycles of life and death, and also the inevitability of endings, – not just the happy moments that I would prefer to experience. I can see that my failure to celebrate at these darker times is a denial and rejection of all these marvels that make life worth living. It is truly a privilege to be alive at any time – let alone these very special and exciting end times. Gratitude – and the resulting joy and celebration are essential responses to the inestimable value of this gift of life.

When I am in the depths of despair, I loose sight of my inner strength and ability to celebrate that which seems so distant and irrelevant. However, even at my darkest moments, I can still access an inner glow. Somehow, from this place, at moments of darkness, I can also touch these much valued though sometimes seemingly lost truths of the power of curiosity, joy, and laughter. Hopefully, this way I can continue to more fully open to the beauty of life, and to knowing

that All is Well.

Chapter 3

New Beginnings

9 October 2020

Music and Connections

Why does making sounds together touch the deepest depths of my soul?

The magic, all-too-brief connection when notes meet mid-air and suddenly open the door to an inner heaven,

Somehow filling the space which separates us, and flooding it with joy and understanding.

Is music, like life, only about chasing such magical moments,

And listening to my greedy inner voice demanding more, and bigger, and better?

Or can I learn to let these musical moments, like the many beautiful and less dramatic moments that connect them, enrich the fabric of my life,

and become treasured parts of my growing sense of self which is constantly enhanced by innumerable daily connections with others and with nature,

As I remember that All is Well.

October 11 2020

Celebrating our circuses, embracing our monkeys

Our world IS a circus combining craziness and sacredness into an ever-changing, amazing, and beautiful kaleidoscope of colour and energy that is now rapidly building to an explosive and joyous finale.

For me, I see that one of the basic choices we have to make in life is between embracing the wonders of this circus fully, including facing the fears that rise up from the acknowledgement of the uncertainties of life including death, and finding peace by ignoring the existence of that which we cannot change.

I choose to not limit my joy and perception of the final days of our journey to the amazing, safe and comfortable world I live in today, in the hope that this paradise, or at least my perception of it, will last my lifetime.

Instead, I commit myself to celebrate all our circuses, and to embrace all the monkeys within it, as much as I am able to do. I see this as my reward and privilege for living at such momentous times when I can experience the many dimensions of humanity and nature as fully as possible, thanks to our amazing communication networks.

To do this, and to continue to live playfully, joyfully, creatively, and openly to connect with nature and others, I must remember and celebrate that often what I see as insanity, others embrace as the peak of human compassion and intelligence – and what I see as our disintegrating and dying natural world, others accept as a sign of man’s rightful dominance in our world. I must learn to recognise and laugh at my self-righteousness as this can be self-destructive. My challenge is therefore to celebrate the world as I see it in all its complexity. My experiences are both unique and nourishing to me – and would be potentially toxic to many of the others who I am deeply connected with. Here lies one of the supreme paradoxes of life – that we all perceive life so differently.

Instead of focusing on what I can so easily see as unnecessary pain, destruction and ineptitude, I alone can choose to instead celebrate our current dramas as parts of the amazing cycles of life and death, creation and destruction. There is equal mystery, and creativity in the interactions and connections which bring beginnings, peaks and endings – and each ending brings the opportunity for a new beginning.

My journey on earth, which is now very limited time-wise (probably less than 564 days) either from becoming personally unsustainable and unstable because of the choices I have made, or from a breakdown at a collective level, is mine alone. I celebrate its beauty, and ask only the strength and courage to follow my journey to its end in joy and wonder at the beauty and complexity of creation.