we are makers

the scraper touches me

half-buried, the worked stone calls to me,

 

amidst the casual randomness of the schoolyard ground,

the shape, the color whisper of intention,

so I act and pull forth the stone from the clay,

and I find a chert scraper,

perfect in how it fits to the hand,

and I realize he who made it was right-handed

for my left hand can’t quite readily fit it,

I can love a tool, not just for what it can do,

but for what it can hint of its maker, its use, its time,

we people are much about what we make,

I want to feel connection

so that at least I can know a little of others 

who reach back toward the first awakenings,

my right hand holds the scraper

and I reach to hold him who made it.

by Henry H. Walker

February 12, ’15

clarity

drama, like sports. . .

clarity of revelation is part of what draws us to sports,

for the ball goes in the basket, or it doesn’t,

will and want yield to what is, and “is” is clear,

so unlike the nebulous ambivalence of so much of our days

when we guess and approximate our paths through the woods,

drama can be like sports

for the audience tells you what you think you feel,

that what you present works,

just as success in sports can feel true

so can success in drama,

the process needs a team

and each can feel the product rise with each and every effort,

when all is right

there is clarity for the actor

and the worth revealed feels sure.

by Henry H. Walker

February 7, ’15

to defy the confining dark

out of our internal prisons

I believe in each young person I teach,

that each can amaze themselves, and us,

with what can be accomplished,

when doubt and fear lose their hold

on the choice as to whether to be bold,

each can take the risk to be true to the best self within,

only when we venture forth from our internal prisons

can our light be seen,

and it’s then when we can see other lights,

who, together with ours, blaze as to defy

the hold of the confining dark. 

by Henry H. Walker

February 7, ’15

exults into awe

I offer tears

how can tears not come to the eyes

when reality before you exults into awe?

I almost get how amazing each young person before me is

in their release of the power of the self within,

others can be more controlled and limited

in their outward response to what can leave me undone,

I watch a musical

and my middle schoolers live it fully on stage,

so much so, and so well,

that they and audience are transfixed into wonder,

we offer applause, even stand in that offering,

yet some of us offer even more in our response,

tears shake us as we see and appreciate

how the ordinary transcends into extraordinary. 

by Henry H. Walker

February 6, ’15

Seuss!

it takes a community

Dr. Seuss imagines the fantastic:

human traits writ large in his wonderful creatures,

all within a world wholesome at the heart,

a place to be a maker with our thoughts,

how wondrous the play, 

not only in character, script, and song,

but in what our community creates 

with our bodies, our hands, our souls,

the vision and effort 
directors, musicians, choreographer, set designers, and techies

add to the vision and effort the actors bring with their full selves:
the confidence, the doubt, 

the ability that yearns to release into wholeness and success,

the vision and efforts parents bring 

who envision what costumes, hair, and make-up can be,

and who make it real,

so that what actor and audience see together

can animate the world of Dr. Seuss

and have it be real, onstage, for a time--

brief by the clock

yet amazing to the audience

and thus amazing to each of us

who should then know the power

with which each can “think” and be. 

by Henry H. Walker

February 4, ’15

wonder at the heart

of faith and science

I feel myself to be a person of faith,

for the spiritual opens me into insights

that mundane cause-and-effect can’t reach,

I also think myself to be a person of thought,

for understanding what is can slap me in the face

with the real world that doesn’t care what I dream,

I find random change as the great determiner

as fantastic as the God of Genesis making all in a week,

I consider creation as a wonder,

and faith and science can be equal

in their straining to celebrate where we are in the cosmos,

how we got here is a wonder.

by Henry H. Walker

January 31, ’15

homogeneity can be false

God blesses many paths

we can seek comfort in others we feel to be just like us
and that we are the ones with the real and true answer,

we kid ourselves that we center into meaning

when we dismiss the different as not us, 
too different, 
wrong,

when we believe that only those 
who reflect the smallness that we see in ourselves

somehow make us larger by agreeing with what's so,

I despair when I hear some I love

testify that the only way to Heaven

is through the manifestation of the Divine

that has spoken clearly to them,

for me I seek commonality within diversity,

God is at the top of a mountain

and our path can lead us upwards toward the Godhead,

yet we are better when we realize

other paths can be equally blessed by God.

by Henry H. Walker

January 23, ’15