Hi all: So entries for the poetry contest are closed and we have some lovely possibilities. You each have five sticky dots. Please email me off-list at [email protected] (copied above) and tell me your votes. The poems are numbered and all you need to do is assign your votes by number, for example, 3 dots for poem 4 and 2 dots for poem 1 etc.
You have until Friday, June 8th to get your vote in. I will be travelling from June 3rd until June 8th with limited access to my email. I will count the votes when I get back. Best regards, Esther Here are the poems: Poem #1 Annual Event I open space once a year Three and half hours once a year A tentative start on each occasion A gradual unfurling of potential vision We set the topics? We work it out? Do we do that? Oohh, we do do that. Closing circle Calm excitement abounds The bliss, the confidence, smiles all around We did that. **************************************************************************** ************************ Poem # 2 'How does OS work?' 'Beats me!' smiles facilitator, 'but what I can tell you is this: Whenever people gather to treat each other well, something quite magical happens as fire souls emerge.' 'That's a stirring image! What does it mean?' 'People whose dancing eyes express readiness to converse. Experiencing this has changed our people and organization forever, and we now connect with unbridled joy.' The power of this poem hinges on a deep understanding of what it means 'to converse'. It comes from the Latin conversare - to turn or to dance together. **************************************************************************** ************************ Poem # 3 we walk through the door and enter the elegant round form; find an empty seat. there's a greeting by an official, and then someone speaks a familiar invocation, slowly so all can hear: the intention that brings us here, some markers for the journey, some images of flight. a moment passes, and the magical lifting begins, and we all feel it; our attention rushes forward, drawn into a powerful whirlwind; there are moments of fear, but the power is both thrilling and clearly benign. the rapid movement ends and our motion calms, changes shape. our attention disperses, drawn here and there by the heart. we can walk around carefully. unique people from different places find ourselves bound with unusual comfort inside this strange but familiar space. whoever spoke to us with that confident voice cannot be seen, yet this astonishing thin container holds us well, strong and bouyant, guided by the sun and the stars, the sound of the great planet turning. we look in one direction to find vast new perspectives; look another to lean our heads in, quietly sharing personal stories. we live and work in this space alone and together for hours; take a meal, perhaps a nap. then someone knows when the time has come. we return to our seats, alert and upright, invited to reflect on a long journey, one last look around at our companions. we are now returned safely to the earth. we stand to leave, gather belongings; the confident ones wait at the door to wish us well, and we walk into a new landscape. we are the same people, forever changed. **************************************************************************** ************************ Poem # 4 What far off thought can come to rest in the company of friends? What rooted promise can take flight at the mere invocation of curiosity? This circle describes, an energetic inscription a container that is itself a call, that draws forth the needed salve. There is the sweet dance of the heart driven by the lightness of inspired vision setting its intention And there is the solitary stationary act stuck in the muddy earth that seeks its ascendance. This simple shape holds all the energy that is needed for dreams to soar and brilliance to ground. Lifted and held. Like a hawk on a thermal Like a child gazing at the moon. **************************************************************************** ************************ Poem # 5 Everything ...swoops these days. You seek out the flat spot, the place you stand on both feet, that speaks of still moving, round, plumb-line, heart of gravity, coeur de home. I mean, how we dig for things rarified and true sitting squarely between our feet, just right perfect. Nothing's perfect, and listen to this: if it's perfect, it's nothing * * ========================================================== [email protected] ------------------------------ To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the archives of [email protected]: http://listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html To learn about OpenSpaceEmailLists and OSLIST FAQs: http://www.openspaceworld.org/oslist
