like heartbeats

 Listening to each 

level of awakening

like heart beats

I sink into the rhythm of

this regular pattern

I make offerings

to each soul that passes this way

that they may be safe

that they may be at peace

that they may not suffer. 

I have been practicing

making offerings like these

for as long as I can remember

And I will continue to do so

until there is no longer a reason to

keep it all going. 

I am powered by the ocean, 

the moss and the branches and leaves

in the forests, 

the animals and the minerals and the networks of redwood trees

I am powered by nature herself. 

And until there is no longer a reason to keep going

I will practice with strength, with compassion like a bodhisattva

and patience that grows as I do.