BREATH,
by Shaun Parry

I dreamt I was wind blowing over mountains, down into valleys, through trees, rustling leaves as I blew past. 
I lilted over rivers, swept swiftly through canyons leaving nothing but echoes, and entered a city. 
Between buildings and over cars I continued on; a man's hat blew off in my wake; 
a woman's hair tossled and she smiled. 
Then I blew upward into the skies toward the luminescent stars; 
heaven smiled, beckoning me, welcoming me. 
I inhaled the great expanse and it filled me. 
I exhaled and there was a new heaven and earth before me. 

​The Supreme Goodness of Water
by Shaun Parry
 
​May we be as water,
Seeking to dwell in lowly places;
through diligence and perseverance,
able to overcome the most difficult of obstacles;
benefiting all things competing with none.  
May our hearts and sincerity be as deep and pure
as water flowing
from an underground spring. 
May we be as wise as water in our actions,
our discipline and strength as unrelenting. 
May our relationships and friendships be as tender as
dewdrops tickling a still pond. 
May our love be as the tides of the sea,
constant and never-ending.
May our souls fight as fiercely as a raging tempest
yet commune compassionately with the tender strength of a single tear.
May our journey be as a playful mountain stream,
cleansed and purified by each rock in its path
descending. 
May our lives be as water, giving life to all who partake.
And after great exertion to 'be',
having 'done' nothing at all;
may we be as sweat on the field-worker's brow,
touched by the Sun, wholly consumed, transformed, naturally ascending.
 
Inspired by Tao De Ching (8) by Lao Tzu.

LAVA in the SKY
Fear filled the hearts of all who gazed into the heavens
on that great and terrible day of the Lord.
Lava unfurled across the scorched sky setting the firmament aflame.
Lofty snowcapped mountains stood dauntless, unyielding against the celestial inferno.
Suddenly an angel wielding the great sword of the Almighty
slit the heavens open that all might witness the salvation of God.
Resplendent in its majesty, the glorious vault of heaven scrolled back.
​And from that day forth, the fire that lit the skies burned within our hearts.

O Life, O Death... O Life!
by Shaun Parry

O Life, Where is thy victory? What is the essence of thy being?
How are we to measure thee once thou art gone?
Time, Substance, Strength, Beauty
Fleeting as the morning mist, short as the night is long.
Thou art a shadow of eternity
A warm glowing ember sharing light and love
For a brief breathing moment.
Then where goest thou that we seek and cannot find?
And what remains? What hast thou left behind?
Love, Laughter, Fear, Pain-- Lingering music? A happy refrain?
Holding hands, a single tear, a day, a week, a month, a year.
How can we measure the depth of the night?
Where art thou, O Life? I blinked and thou wast gone from my sight.

When the living gather to mourn the dead
What then can be said?
"Thou death, once again hath proven thy strength
to reign victorious over life's short length"?
Frail, wavering, uncertain—Life.
Light and warm—true—but a flickering flame art thou.
Homeless, diseased, decrepit faltering life.
O Death, art thou a release from a wretched existence into eternal nothingness?
Art thou dust to life to dust again,
That worms might consume the flesh of all men?
Is this to be the purpose and the end?

We the living remnant await the setting sun.
A journey from whence no traveler returns, once begun.
The turning of a page; does life continue on?
The veil rent, will a new day dawn?
Yea, trust in the Lord our election made sure
In the resurrection of the just and the pure
That all of creation in the twinkling of an eye
Will live once again never more to die.
Ascension from a world half day, half night
To celestial spheres of glorious, everlasting light.

O Life, O Death... O Life!

​

​​
​DUPA
by Shaun Parry
 
A shudder envelops my corpse as DUPA screams her victorious arrival
She opens her multiple, mighty, horizontal jaws
Many enter
Turned to stone once within the beast
Resurrected when at last released
Delivered safely to the destination of each
Not a shred of clothing nor shoe buckle breached.

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Who I've Become 
by Shaun Parry

This vapor once before mine eyes
Now invisible, ephemeral
An abstraction fantasized
 
A dream so real 
The horizon passed
Once crystal clear 
Now fading fast
 
Snap, and the snap is gone
Blink, and it is no more
Think, and it was thought
Do, and it is done
Snapped, blinked, thought, did
 
But is all temporary and fleeting
Are we prideful words carved in shifting sand
Then the coming tide waves his forceful hand
And in an instant…we were
 
When life is but a memory
What will then I be
Stepping into the infinite
What has made me, me
 
The snap, the blink, the thought, the deed
All disappear as soon as they’re freed
Though I carry the flag of fortune and fame
A moment and a century are one in the same
 
In time the what, the when and the where
Like magic, vanish into thin air
But why and how linger in my soul
That angels or demons may forever extol
 
For who I’ve become, will bind or set free
Both now and in eternity
No thing will I be able to save
It’s who I’ve become that I’ll take through the grave
  

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​The Rhythm of Nature
by Shaun Parry


Listen to the rhythm of nature
Hear her drumming out a native beat
Winds blowing, strings and percussion
Learn how to play from the tropical heat

Dancing with the wind the clouds roll by gliding in a slow foxtrot
Dancing with the wind the waves roll in, ancient hula has not been taught
Dancing with the wind the palm trees sway in a samba volta as they dance the day away
Take a break from technology, computers and cars - look up and dance with the stars

Birds in formation waltzing through the sky
We've got too much information, why don't we even try
To learn from the orchestra that's perfectly in tune
Centering ourselves like the sun at high noon
​
No additional admission or permission'll teach you what nature has to teach
You must go back to the original source
That which keeps all life and nature in its course
Let go of the traditional
Seek the unconditional
You'll find your aboriginal, indigenous beat.

A Piece of the Puzzle
by Shaun Parry

I plant myself cross-legged on the sloping earth; my back against rugged pine bark
The air is crisp from the fickle climate
Sweet bliss following the blizzard,
The warm sun delicately sips leftover winter from the frozen ground, spilling her white wine on the damp grass
I absorb the energy of the living giant through my back, revitalizing my spine from sacrum to cerebrum
The mother of all living lends her life force from below
Light from above ignites heat from within
A fever chills my skin as minute beads of sweat grow from the soil of my flesh
A cool breeze tickles the hair on my arm and washes my already wet face, brushing the hair from my eyes
Visual stimulus gone my pupils roll to the heavens
Awareness of the yin and yang of my involuntary respiration calms my soul, releasing hips, shoulders and face to gravity’s unyielding attraction
A bird caws as it soars overhead, its shadow passing my blindness
I am the bird
I am the sun
I am the wind
I am the tree
I am the earth
I am, because we are.

Senses of the Soul

by Shaun Parry

Learn to taste luxurious desserts in the desolate, destitute places of the earth
Feast and fill your belly with the desperate cries of war-torn motherless children and famine starved childless mothers
Hear joy in each labored breath
Hear God whispering in the teardrops of the disfigured and diseased
Smell the sweet fragrance of the rat-infested, urine troughs that huddled, shivering families call home
Yea, dig to the furthest reaches of the bottomless, stench-filled pit of your own bowels and find compassion there
Do not try to feel or understand with your physical eyes, for the naked eye is deceived by the illusion of truth
Humble yourselves and learn from those you pity and despise
 For they can see and thou art blind
As life-giving blood rushes through your veins with each heartbeat and air is absorbed in the lungs with each breath, bringing new life
 Even so,
Be Still
Hear with your heart and listen with your lungs
Strip yourselves of all pride and worldliness
Cleanse the inner vessel that there might be room enough to receive knowledge from on High, pure and undefiled
Yea, learn from these your Masters, to see in the darkness by the Light of your soul

SHADOWS
by Shaun Parry


The shadow clings to its creator as he walks proudly
Into the sun or rebelliously away therefrom.
Secure and daunting, never flinching, confidently flaunting its
Rightful place as the dark evidence of misalignment in time and space.


But when the sun reaches her zenith 
And the obedient servant basks in the glory thereof
—in the warm, life-giving, breathtaking, glorious light from above--
Shadows flee; no darkness dare stay
Being wholly swallowed in the light of day.


Now each must decide and that very soon
If we'll live by the light of the stars or the moon
Or if we dare live with no shadows at all
In perfect alignment standing firm, standing tall.
Yea, each must decide and that very soon
If we'll center ourselves with the sun at high noon.

​Angel Tears
By Shaun Parry
 
Shimmering streams of angel tears from above
Trail behind two spirits in love
Who traveling for a time
From their heavenly home
To terrestrial tabernacles
On earth do roam
What shall the day say to the night
When darkness is bathed in glorious light?
What once was lost was always found
And what’s the cost to be freely bound?
Fellow prisoners in Christ
Who now by choice
Are listeners enticed
By the still small voice
The universe is moved and steps aside
For true love marked with sacrifice of pride
At the altar of Eden their bliss they’ll find
In joyous reunion the stars realigned
As two of God’s children take wing and fly
Once again angel tears flow from on high
How glorious the plan, the Master’s design
As tapestries perfectly intertwine
To chose to be chosen a living legacy
Imparted to generations of promised posterity
From everlasting to everlasting as the sands of the sea
Gods and Goddesses throughout all eternity