Listening Vs. Hearing

Hearing is the sound of the radio driving my teenager to school in the morning.

Listening is actually paying attention to the lyrics, the tug on my memories as an emotion is recaptured, a certain rhythm or beat that seems to fluctuate with my own life blood.

I hear your words...

I listen to your eyes, your body, your fingers touching mine.

I  hear your story...

I listen to the quality of your voice, the timbre and tempo, the courage it took to utter these words, the risk in revealing your more transparent needs.

I hear you say “I love you..."

I’m listening to your heart, your doubts, your fears, your hopes, your dreams.

Hearing is empathy.

Listening is compassion.

Do you hear me?

Are you listening right now?

Hearing is temporal.

Listening is eternal.

Change Comes

The Heart That Rejoices

Each Condition

She Changes

Romance is Imperative

Church of Zumba

There is an inexpressible joy
An ecstasy in rhythmic movement
I call this my
Smiler-cize

My body is wordless
yet knows all the lyrics
the steps well
before my mind

I quench a deeper thirst each time
I make the decision to be here
in Church of Zumba
arms stretched, heart pounding
My hips Salsa, my feet Cumbia
Here is my sacred community

The hardwood floors preserve
The stomps and punches
of the kick boxers before us
The mirrors reflect
Our personal goals

We create conversations of sweat
dialogs and choruses as we
move in sync, discovering
our individual movements
even as we dance as one

Warm up, cool down
So much repetition
So different every time

Each week there are us regulars
and the brave neophytes
A fluctuating tribe of women
learning to love
 the strength
in their bodies, the glory
of perspiration

In this moment we are Shakira
Madonna, Lady Gaga, every Las Vegas showgirl
We are fluid and flexible
we clap our hands and sigh
With relief, stretching our tendons
lengthening our breath

We pour out into the parking lot
Waving goodbyes, drinking more water
This holy moment directs my day, my week
long after
My purifying shower.

October 2010