let nothing

"let nothing disturb thee" st. therese avilla


when all moves through us
like hard kernels of corn
pounded and ground
into the finest silken powder

we don't pay time's insistence
that there be a reason for anything
under heaven or above earth
wriggling to be free

no tyranny- wraps the gifts
of clicking jaws-as castanets
brought to the tiki bar on sunday
we wait for five o'clock to pour the rum

dark and stormy melt downs
never quibble with the facts
we are on the sunny side of the street
until that lousy cloud blows by

shanti shanti om- blessing the laundry-
gets done-- no matter the weather
the clothes line holds an array of fashions
for every taste- french chic and downtown sultry

perhaps it's time to dream of throwing down
roots--in plots of land utilized by the common person;
potato tethers to its roots- readjusts in cold cellars
hanging out with rutabagas, just in from the south seas

Kate Lamberg
all rights reserved

snorkeling heaven, bvi~photo by kate lamberg-all rights reserved~(c)

while walking

while walking in between
the pounding rain, and the waiting for
the wetness to saturate
flowers trees and bird songs

we notice our arches rising
to meet up with the spaces
elongating the time in between
the pounding rain, and the waiting for

the streaming blessings to become
no different than the we
we thought we grew up graciously
spinning stories from earth tone yarns

birds scurry to find high and dry quarters
to rest their chordal selves at dusk
while we mosey back to humble trusting
like sleepy horses, satisfied with afternoon lusting


Kate Lamberg

photo by kate lamberg

JUNE HEALING RETREAT~*~

RELAX, RENEW, REJUVENATE!!!


Gentle yoga stretches, guided meditations/visualizations
"Sound Healing" live piano music(composed and played for healing and deep relaxation).
Time for journaling, and group "sharing".
An optional, (but encouraged)  potluck lunch to follow.

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013
11 am- 1:30 pm
At Tadasan Center for Natural Healing
Port Jefferson Sta. NY.

With Kate Lamberg, BA, LMT(since 1987), yoga and meditation instructor, musician, poet.
Director of Tadasan Center for Natural Healing.

Healing into Wholeness, balance becomes all we do breathe. Ahhhuuuummm!
To register, directions, information:
katyajo@gmail.com
631 334-2663

full Moon

may the full moon serve
to remind you of the beauty
and radiance of your own being

kate lamberg (c)

photo by  kate lamberg
all rights reserved. (C)

russian soul on american soil

fourth day in a row
mornings begin cool and cloudy
giving way to sudden sun
blazing afternoons

you'd think she'd know by now, &
prepare for this onslaught of heat
after living on long island for more
than a half a century

we are an island, surrounded
by water on all sides- simply face this fact,
or the shock of sudden afternoon sun
will kill the creative source in everyone

so she gently takes advantage
of the cooler cloudy mornings to do
her yoga, and to meditate, carving time
for writing poems-as pumpkins in october

preparing for afternoon-she'll set aside
time to nap and dream of northern regions
where wind courses through deliciously
her russian soul breathing coarse snow in spring

kate lamberg

little yellow iris~photo by kate lamberg

sometimes

sometimes the river runs muddy
sitting, with eyes closed
a million veils unravel

a split second of viewing
the sparkling stream
re-creates the clarity of our dreams

Kate Lamberg (c)

egret photo by kate lamberg~

sitting in sunday's garden

while sitting in sunday's garden
sharing bird songs, zinnias, cat mint
felt a strong pull to be my own guardian
ushering  breath's quiet peaceful contentment

sun weaves through blinding white clouds
spring has become a song we memorize
capturing heat as loving-- without romancing-
an extraordinary voice of barely glancing

each leaf and flower worshiping
the truth and freedom
we are  now articulating:
to live a life without loving

is the greatest misfortune;
yet, still----self love is
the universal key for harmony
orchestrated by angels--masterly

Kate Lamberg

photo by kate lamberg~(c)

buddha bloom

"hadevo devam arcayat"
by none, but a god shall a god be worshiped.~(hindu saying)

for  buddha, on his birthday


the best moments of our lives
shall not be uttered
let the doors windows
and shutters be closed

for another eternity
there is a trail of smoke
rising in a curlie cue
the resin and bark of sandlewood

rises and enters nostrils
washes the entire forehead
of any remembered history
heaven is just a word for

backing away briefly
from all the razzmatazz
we call culture- crazed by
all the noise and machinations

the culmination of all the ages
we duck below the low overhang
sit still, burn karma, create meadows

without leaving black cushion
without needing to check
on messages, newspapers,
laundry gets done miraculously

without the inclination to wash
hands of the past- feet fluid
move with the clear true
gentle spirit of the birth

a bud of a rose is necessary
before the full flowering, and
then the dropping of petal's beauty
needed to know--born of trust

that the same movie will come
again- at the appointed hour
just when the meditation
is burning a huge hole of karma

burning away the yearning
for anything more or less
than this
perfect bliss


Kate Lamberg

photo by kate lamberg~(c)

trust

trust takes time to build
when violated, takes
a massive heart to forgive

when flowers picked before
the rain, and then after the rain
scent air with sweetness

when souls who meet once
in the earthly plane-- and separate
live as one heart eternal

as long as songs are left
to sing while planting daisies
leaning in to witness spring

because there are no causes
made in heaven that earth cannot
traipse through to the other side

canyon walls are strong
but thinning on the crest
as middle widens

flute music wafting
down the canyon--& beyond
mesa verde tundra

string section jumps in
waking sleepy cactus flowers
as coffee is made


Kate Lamberg
5/11/13

green on green~photo by kate lamberg~

wisteria

wisteria hangs
in sweet scented bunches
softest lingerie
leading me to rest below
your purple petticoat edges

tanka and photo by kate lamberg (c) '13

reaching for flowers

reaching for flowers
petals fall on their own accord
our life moves through us

not moving through life,
without grasping-- we unite
with now's ecstasy

kate lamberg

Happy Mother's Day!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us ; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~ Washington Irving

local wisteria~photo by kate lamberg~

staying still, quiet~haiku quartet for flute, piano, guitar, voice

staying still, quiet
wraps around- as a sari
entering one's soul

cessation of thoughts
provides fields of flowers to bloom
what our soul asks for

where our attention goes
bright universe reflects back
soul dances our gifts

polishing brass bowls
all through the night- soul cries- dreams
awaken to light

kate lamberg

 

rhododendrons~photo by kate lamberg~

rumi quote and katya's irises

“I want your sun to reach my raindrops, so your heat can raise my soul upward like a cloud.”~Rumi

iris photo by kate lamberg (copyright, 13)

how often

a string of four haiku and photo~by kate lamberg~May, '13(copyright)

how often we hear
the silence building hushes
among the night-thrushes

holding hands above
buddha's belly protrudes
laughter, effortless

single notes sweep keys
a sweeter sound could not be heard
except, the lone hawk circling

enveloping sound 
wearing headdress and abolone
brothers and sisters circle around
                                                                                   

                                                                                    

I went into nature today.

words and photo by kate lamberg~(copyright, may '13)

i went into nature today
or is it more proper to say,
nature went into me


when the male and female polarities
are beating
in one harmonic flow 

it becomes less important
which way  
it goes

 
what's important
is simply
to go

into nature
and come home
with poems and photos



kate lamberg-may'13 (c)

treely samba

    two bold figures dance
    the samba-so tightly move
    from sunrise to dark skies
    so much depends on her groove

tanka and photo by kate lamberg~copyright- may, '13

                                                             

we needed the rain

tanka and photo by kate lamberg~(copyright '13)

we needed the rain
april was skeletally dry
now the blessed rain
streaming through cloudy grey skies
leaving dappled crystals in her wake

cherry blossoms

haiku and photo by kate lamberg (copyright)

cherry blossoms burst
open- with may's elegant
royal arrival

chiaroscuro

photo and haiku by kate lamberg (copyright)

                                                 
chiaroscuro
tulip drenched in radiance
known through her shadows

cream colored dogwood

cream colored dogwood
arresting my flowered soul
wistful dreaminess

photo and haiku by kate lamberg (copyright)

forest green

if within a forest green
you were to receive the question
that would rotate rotunda doors
and cradle thoughts to endure the ride

where glassy spirits hang on cedar branches
and laughter lassoed all through the astral blue
skies of blackest coal--clear through
the deepest blue-green surrounding meadow

with shifting green accessories- donning days spent wistful
wondering what, if any, saints sat beneath these willows
realizing the amorphousness of time keeps us captive
for more exploratory salutations- yoga nidre' angels

Kate Lamberg

forest green~photo by kate lamberg~

bamboo flutes play within

The love of one's country is a natural thing. But why should love stop at the border?" Pablo Casals

dedicated to Boston and all who were affected by the horrific bombings~

bamboo flutes play within
the bamboo grove, among the pine forest
where breezes sometime get caught
in trees' branches- and then the wind

once again sails outside
the lines of the densely thick,
softly yielding pine forest
to places even our imaginations cannot conjure

as the flute music is muted
 by the incoming wind of freshness,
it waits, without being idle-
for there will be a time soon

when the wind will again die down
and the music will continue, as if it never left us
and bring us to our feet with purpose, and we
shall dance with our collective souls as one

Kate Lamberg

bamboo grove~photo by kate lamberg

birth as journey/journey as birth

Just by the very nature of our birth, we are on the spiritual journey.
~Thomas Keating~

the journey is set into gear, sometimes
without rehearsing the score's voicing-
we are born to a forgiving earth

Kate Lamberg

sea and rocks, bvi~photo by kate lamberg~

willingness- a string of five haiku

we will our beings
to bond closer with those souls
who sing the same songs

bamboo forest bends
to the will of the wind's power
processing our thoughts

pressing words for juice
pomegranate stains our lips
drinking with all souls

river's door opens
for souls willing to flow with
the current splashing

willingness worships
wide open prairies for dance
leaping in mid-air

Kate Lamberg

bamboo bends~photo by kate lamberg~

funny how i heard the sound of the rain(after reading neruda)

"Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig

and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart." Pablo Neruda



funny how i heard the sound of the rain
just before i closed my eyes, and surrendered
to  sleep; the rush of water outside my window-
restoring remembrances of all the promises we do keep

it was a gentle rain, with enough strength
to let us remember its alternative rhythms
the soothing clarity of its precision
sauntering as close as angels' breath

we are forever lost to being
not fond of finding selves in a clutter
we stay peacefully behind the shudders
until the slats snap--the orange sunshine

redesigns our mismatched socks
smoothing over covers, praising pillows
finally freeing the thumb that thought
was in charge- the elegant pinky orchestrates

Kate Lamberg

yellow forsythia. photo by kate lamberg~

i awoke to goats singing

Exultation is the going
Of an inland soul to sea,
Past the houses - past the headlands -
Into deep Eternity -
~ Emily Dickinson ~

i awoke to goats singing, as they
grazed upon the grassy hills
which rose right up
out of the turquoise sea

rousing me out of a light sleep
while on a catamaran
weaving through
the british virgin isles

an oblong bread box of family floating
like a swarm of lotus blossoms
so bravely connected -where the stem
meets up with the flower

dinghy dropped us off a  dozen
breast strokes from the white sugar
sandy beach--dry bag lifted over head
camera and we- survived the peaceful waters

instantly found the soggy dollar bar
discovered they would not serve rum
until 6pm, as they observed good friday
we'd have to shop for t-shirts and have a swim

soon after skin submerged in blue bath bliss
the skies turned an ominous grey, we knew
the rain would follow- whisked back to our trusty ship
to let the rain remember why we were here

that night, our last on the islands
i had black fin tuna and and did cheer-
strolled under the day after full silver moon
and thought of how i could make it here

Kate Lamberg

skies got grey amidst the sugar white sand~sandy cay..bvi/photo by kate lamberg~

everything is poe-try!

"There is not a particle of life which does not bear poetry within it. " Gustave Flaubert


i appreciate your wishing
to send me a prompt,
but i've got more than i need
thank you just the same

they come crawling down sleeves
and out of the kitchen cabinets
with a rhythm and color
innately their own

our job to capture without butchering
as if each image and thought
were the most delicate
butterfly dropping in for a cup of tea

would you smash the colored wing
to attain the essence of all living things?
would your crack a walnut so hard
you'd send the kernel flying in the yard?

cat swaggers on the dining room table- with
the ballet grace we've  always wished to replicate
the crystal bowls play harmonics- we're left
to swim in the notes as pachebel's fate

children play without worrying
where their next game will spring from
utterly present- they submerge
at water's edge- inspired by everything


Kate Lamberg

'children play without worrying' photo by kate lamberg~

purple iris-a string of five haiku~

purple iris smells
like a soft lemon pound cake
regal in may wind

upright, until soft
gusts of grasses, nearby hush
clear across flowers

purple hue remains
even when petals do droop-
falling- kiss the stoop

metallic chimes ring
in between flower's bright sheen
and day's soft closing

Kate Lamberg

purple iris in my garden~photo by kate lamberg~