The 60-Second Sabbath

Solitude

  • Liquid Moon

    Last nightI halted at the pond's edge; the moon had donated her fullnessto the water's textureless surface. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.   Continue reading

  • Psychic Knots

    I spent this morninguntying psychic knots…    not unlike untangling Christmas lights,    or undoing the knot I unintentionally  yanked into my shoelace,    or loosening the matted hair in my cat's calico coat,except this is a mass of my… Continue reading

  • Sleep Calls Me

    Sleep calls meon a quiet Saturday afternoonwhen the ironing and vacuuming are doneand it's not yet time to start dinner. She calls me from the bedroom,where she's already lured the catsinto one, black, circular mass of slow breathingand entwined limbs.… Continue reading

  • Unplug

    I have a challenge for you: One day a month,free yourself from the grid–    turn off your cell phone,    stay away from the computer,    don't Facebook, tweet, YouTube or text,    refuse the TV,    unplug the… Continue reading

  • Butterflies, Inc.

    Somewhere west of the last town,just this side of sundown,the road straightensinto the dusty emptiness of forever. I pull over to peein the buckling parking lotof an abandoned warehousewhose faded sign reads"Butterflies, Inc." I try to grasp what this means:a… Continue reading

  • Only the Heroes

    I am  your soul,and this is what I require: silence to  expand;stillness to recall;solitude to connect and confront. You are wise to be afraid;who wants to discover their true selves? Only the bravest among us.Only the prophets and poets.Only the… Continue reading

  • Unlike the Dog

    Unlike the dog,who resents being crated for the night,I ease willinglyinto my four-poster,where metal trellis and faux vines frame me,and I am angel safe. From the four upper railshang talismans: a string of Tibetan prayer bells–tiny and tingling–scatter intentions; a… Continue reading

  • Rest

    All by itself         rest is a form of prayer– necessary prayer. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.    Continue reading

  • Silence

    Silenceis an invitationto go deep. Try it now. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.    Continue reading

  • Obliquity 1

    "I'm sorry to tell you this,"the doctor said,white-cloaked,peering over his half-glasses,holding his laptop openbut turned toward me so I could see the screen."Here," he pointed,"this mass, these tendrils…" The image looked to melike an amorphous, gray blur. "This is obliquity…as… Continue reading