Only love
Holds the keys
To each door
In the labyrinth
Of life.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2017
faith
Poetry Alive
Wild Self
Breathing
Poetry alive
Beyond form
Beyond words
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2017
“The greatest inspiration, the most sublime ideas of living that have come down to humanity come from a higher realm, a happier realm, a place of pure dreams, a heaven of blessed notions. Ideas and infinite possibilities dwell there in absolute tranquility.
Before these ideas came to us they were pure, they were silent, and their life-giving possibilities were splendid. But when they come to our earthly realm they acquire weight and words. They become less.”
“The sweetest notions, ideas of universal love and justice, love for one another, or intuitions of joyful creation, these are all perfect in their heavenly existences. Any artist will tell you that ideas are happier in the heaven of their conception than on the earth of their realization. We should return to pure contemplation, to sweet meditation, to the peace of silent loving, the serenity of deep faith, to the stillness of deep waters. We should sit still in our deep selves and dream good new things for humanity. We should try and make those dreams real. We should keep trying to raise higher the conditions and possibilities of this world. Then maybe one day, after much striving, we might well begin to create a world justice and a new light on this earth that could inspire a ten-second silence of wonder – even in heaven.”
― Ben Okri
Song of Songs
A long time ago when much of the world was still a wild place there was once a waterfall with a beautiful voice. She could sing with the stars and moon. She would sing with the trees of the forest and all the creatures that came to her shores. In all the earth there was nothing like her divine voice. One day the waterfall told herself she was tired of singing and telling stores all the time, but she couldn’t stop her voice from flowing with the waters. As time passed the waterfall’s voice grew dull as it cascaded down over the rocks. It had lost its music of laughter. It only sounded cold and angry as it slapped down into the depths below. There were no more lullabies at night because the trees no longer listened. The creatures of the forest came to her shores only to quench their thirst. They no longer stayed to visit. Even the stars hide themselves from her behind the leaves of tree spirits and veils of clouds. The waterfall began to feel a deep sadness that she had never known. She had never been so alone. She didn’t know what to do.
Until one day, a pokey little green frog jumped on a mossy stone at the foot of the waterfall. He began to croak out a song. And croaked and croaked into the night. The next morning, the waterfall called out to the frog and said, “Thank you little web-footed friend. I had forgotten what it feels like to sing out with all your might. For many years now, I have used my voice to say what others wanted to hear. But now I realize that I can only sing the song of songs when I give the gift of presence. You have been a true friend.” After that the frog and waterfall would sing many a new song with each dawning day.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
*photo of waterfall by Nicolas A. Tonelli, Pennsylvanian Waterfalls
*photo of green frog found on Frogs Native to Pennsylvania
Dragonfly Songs
Time
To read
The signals
Traveling
On the wind.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
At the edge
Of summer
And autumn
Light softens
Dragonfly song.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
“When the air is hot and humid, there is a feeing of dullness and stagnation. Everyone is oppressed by lassitude. As the seasons begin changing, fresh air comes from the arctic. Clouds that have been building up begin to dispense rain, and damp air is exchanged for fresh, cool breezes. At night, the heavens are changing so quickly that lightning flashes from colliding clouds, and thunder heralds the revolving of the skies.
The same is true of human life. If the heavens cannot endure stagnation for long, how can stagnation last with us? If we find ourselves blocked and frustrated in life, we must look for the inevitable outlet. Nothing is permanent, so how can our obstacles last? We need to look for the first opportunity to set things moving again.
On the other hand, sometimes stagnation comes from our own laziness or incompetence. In this case, then it is we who must show initiative and stimulate a breakthrough in dull circumstances. As soon as we see a chance, we must act. Unless we engage ourselves and events fully, we cannot expect to act sufficiently.”
~Deng Ming-Dao
What Happens?
Sometimes I wonder
What happens
To the little girl
When she suddenly
Grows up.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
*photo by Anka Zhuravleva
Summer Reflections
From the surface
Down into the depths
A friend to myself
Smiling, I make the universe
Even more beautiful.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
“Summertime. It was a song. It was a season. I wondered if that season would ever live inside of me.” ~ Benjamin Alire Sáenz
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” ~ John Lubbock
“The island is ours. Here, in some way, we are young forever.”
~ E. Lockhart
It Is Nothing
Enlighten your desires.
Meditate on who you are.
Quit imagining.
What you want is profoundly expensive,
and difficult to find,
yet close by.
Don’t search for it. It is nothing,
and a nothing within nothing.
~Lalla, Naked Song
Reality Dreaming
“Give your soul the silence it needs to make itself heard. Because the voice of your soul is silent. It’s power can flourish only in the silences. Then your soul will fill you with life. You will be like you really are.”
~Hainz Körmer
It’s About Perspective
The light, soft and warm
Coos of newness in essence
Continuation
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are. “
~Brené Brown
Light Upon Light
Fire energy
Lavender flames
Trumpeting
Inner truths
Healing fear
In the will to live
To thrive in the face
Of adversity
My heart
Pulsing
With faith
Light upon light
Joining ancestors
Brightly burning
In the midnight sky.
© Salem Islas-Madlo 2016
Deep Souldiving 
