Feeling the need for simple, yet hearty food;
So… I’ll slice and chop winter vegetables.
And produce something tasty
May be a soup or may be a stew.

Carrots, squash, turnips, garlic and onions
I’ll add to the pot, drizzled with ghee.

And, spices: dill, thyme, sage and marjoram

And sauté them slowly in a brown vegetable broth.

I’ll serve the soup in bowls with warm crusty bread.
Adding shaved red cabbage to suit,
With a side of sliced golden beets.

A meal for family, friends and kindred spirits.

It may look paradoxical to you, but it's not.
It is an existential truth: only those people who 
are capable of being alone are capable of love, of
sharing, of going into the deepest core of another
person -- without possessing the other, without
becoming dependent on the other, without 
reducing the other to a thing, and without
becoming addicted to the other. 

They allow the other absolute freedom, because 
they know that if the other leaves, they will be as
happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be
taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.

                                                              -- Anonymous

By wiilling to experience aloneness,
     connections are uncovered everywhere.

Turning to face fear,
     the warrior who lives within arises.

Embracing this loss,
     the universe envelops me.

Surrendering into emptiness,
     fullness without end finds me.

If I flee from a condition, it pursues me;
     each condition I welcome, transforms me.

And,  becomes itself transformed,
     into a radiant cosmic essence.

A Wolf Moon rose last night:
    who stands to share these bright nights?

Whose eyes search the velvet night
    to bask in each drop of golden light?

Which heart will be enchanted
     by the mystic runes woven into the Wolf Moon?

For whom does this moon shine;
   Reflecting beneath that ancient sine?

Whose hand will touch the velvet night
     and tease the ripples of moonlight?

Whose fingers trace the muted runes pressed deeply
     into the silent dunes of this Wolf Moon?

There is a miracle we call Friendship
     that dwells within the heart

And, you have no idea how it happens,
     or when it even starts.

The happiness it brings you,
     always provides a special lift.

And you realize that Friendship
     is a most precious gift.

I wish I could show you, 

     when you are lonely or in darkness, 

          the astonishing light of your own being.

                                                         - Hafiz

It is your turn now,
You waited, you were patient.

The time has come,
For us to polish you.

We will transform your inner pearl
Into a house of fire.

You're a gold mine.
Did you know that,
Hidden in the dirt of the earth?

It is your turn now,
To be placed in fire.
Let us cremate your impurities.

                            -- Rumi