MERCY

Photo by S. Auberle

Don't remember where I took the photo of
this statue, but there was no name of the artist.
She's Kuan Yin, goddess of Mercy, and Lord knows
we, and the world, need all the mercy we can get.

And as my grandmother used to say: Mercy Sakes!
Which would be her response upon hearing that I've
had some recent publishing of my poetry. Check out,
if you have a moment, these sites:

www.vertinpress.com (a beautiful magazine called
Cliffs- Soundings) I have 2 poems in the forthcoming
summer issue.

http://www.mannequinenvy.com (an internet
magazine published quarterly) I'm in their summer
issue: The Silver Braid, devoted to artist/poets.

http://bkerouac.tripod.com ( a cool British on-line magazine
called Angel Head--2 poems in it.

I'm pleased and honored to be a part of all three of these.

"One of the most calming and powerful actions you can
do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show
your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times.
The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares,
builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire.
To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like
these--to be fierce and to show mercy toward others,
both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully
lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the
tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.

- Clarissa Pinkola-Estes, from "Do Not Lose Heart."