Michael Coleman
@mjgc.bsky.social
Posting poetry for the soul.
Musician, poet, outdoorsy, mystic, connector, Californian, father, partner, mentor, elder.
Musician, poet, outdoorsy, mystic, connector, Californian, father, partner, mentor, elder.
'Well then, I'll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'
~Antonio Machado
Translation: Robert Bly 2/2
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'
~Antonio Machado
Translation: Robert Bly 2/2
November 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
'Well then, I'll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'
~Antonio Machado
Translation: Robert Bly 2/2
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.'
the wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?'
~Antonio Machado
Translation: Robert Bly 2/2
But don’t give in, insist on arguments and act this way, watchful and consistent, every single time, and the day will arrive when from a destroyer it will become one of your best workers — perhaps the cleverest of all that are building at your life.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters to a Young Poet
2/2
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters to a Young Poet
2/2
October 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
But don’t give in, insist on arguments and act this way, watchful and consistent, every single time, and the day will arrive when from a destroyer it will become one of your best workers — perhaps the cleverest of all that are building at your life.”
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters to a Young Poet
2/2
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Letters to a Young Poet
2/2
We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
October 26, 2025 at 6:39 PM
We're not going to be able
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
to live in this world
if we're not willing to do what he's doing
with one another.
The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.
~ Naomi Shihab Nye
I was thinking of a flowery meadow at the end of a road,
and I found myself in the slough.
I was thinking of the greatness of what was human,
and I found myself in the divine.
~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Translation: Robert Bly
2/2 #poetry
and I found myself in the slough.
I was thinking of the greatness of what was human,
and I found myself in the divine.
~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Translation: Robert Bly
2/2 #poetry
October 23, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I was thinking of a flowery meadow at the end of a road,
and I found myself in the slough.
I was thinking of the greatness of what was human,
and I found myself in the divine.
~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Translation: Robert Bly
2/2 #poetry
and I found myself in the slough.
I was thinking of the greatness of what was human,
and I found myself in the divine.
~Juan Ramon Jimenez
Translation: Robert Bly
2/2 #poetry
you are enough
your work is enough
you are needed
your work is sacred
you are here
and i am grateful
.
~adrienne maree brown. "radical gratitude spell to cast upon meeting a stranger, comrade or friend working for social and/or environmental justice and liberation."
Pic: M.C. Escher "Liberation"
3/3
your work is enough
you are needed
your work is sacred
you are here
and i am grateful
.
~adrienne maree brown. "radical gratitude spell to cast upon meeting a stranger, comrade or friend working for social and/or environmental justice and liberation."
Pic: M.C. Escher "Liberation"
3/3
October 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
you are enough
your work is enough
you are needed
your work is sacred
you are here
and i am grateful
.
~adrienne maree brown. "radical gratitude spell to cast upon meeting a stranger, comrade or friend working for social and/or environmental justice and liberation."
Pic: M.C. Escher "Liberation"
3/3
your work is enough
you are needed
your work is sacred
you are here
and i am grateful
.
~adrienne maree brown. "radical gratitude spell to cast upon meeting a stranger, comrade or friend working for social and/or environmental justice and liberation."
Pic: M.C. Escher "Liberation"
3/3
I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
~ Billy Collins
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
~ Billy Collins
October 3, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I want them to water-ski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
~ Billy Collins
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
~ Billy Collins
Hafiz, who can you tell in this world
That when a dog runs up to you
wagging its ecstatic tail,
you bend down and whisper in its ear
"Beloved, I am so glad that you are happy to see me,
Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad, that you have come."
~ Ladinsky, inspired by Hafiz
2/2 #poetry
That when a dog runs up to you
wagging its ecstatic tail,
you bend down and whisper in its ear
"Beloved, I am so glad that you are happy to see me,
Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad, that you have come."
~ Ladinsky, inspired by Hafiz
2/2 #poetry
October 2, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Hafiz, who can you tell in this world
That when a dog runs up to you
wagging its ecstatic tail,
you bend down and whisper in its ear
"Beloved, I am so glad that you are happy to see me,
Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad, that you have come."
~ Ladinsky, inspired by Hafiz
2/2 #poetry
That when a dog runs up to you
wagging its ecstatic tail,
you bend down and whisper in its ear
"Beloved, I am so glad that you are happy to see me,
Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad, that you have come."
~ Ladinsky, inspired by Hafiz
2/2 #poetry
- I need you to breathe.-
Don’t tell me to calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
- I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,-
- I said to breathe.-
- We’re going to need a lot of air -
- to make this hurricane together.-
~ Lynn Unger
2/2
Don’t tell me to calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
- I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,-
- I said to breathe.-
- We’re going to need a lot of air -
- to make this hurricane together.-
~ Lynn Unger
2/2
October 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
- I need you to breathe.-
Don’t tell me to calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
- I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,-
- I said to breathe.-
- We’re going to need a lot of air -
- to make this hurricane together.-
~ Lynn Unger
2/2
Don’t tell me to calm
when there are so many reasons
to be angry, so much cause for despair!
- I didn’t say to be calm, said the wind,-
- I said to breathe.-
- We’re going to need a lot of air -
- to make this hurricane together.-
~ Lynn Unger
2/2
… And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
~ Howard Zinn
3/3
~ Howard Zinn
3/3
September 30, 2025 at 3:53 PM
… And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
~ Howard Zinn
3/3
~ Howard Zinn
3/3
Be the cup that holds
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
September 29, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Be the cup that holds
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
Be the cup that holds
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
September 29, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Be the cup that holds
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
the candle. Be the wax,
the wick, the flip of the
wrist that lights the match.
Most of all, be the flame.
Draw on the source
of light, acknowledging
that without darkness
candles would be
useless things indeed.
~Danna Faulds, "Without Darkness"
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~Mary Oliver
3/3
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~Mary Oliver
3/3
September 29, 2025 at 3:23 AM
just to be alive
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~Mary Oliver
3/3
on this fresh morning
in the broken world.
I beg of you,
do not walk by
without pausing
to attend to this
rather ridiculous performance.
It could mean something.
It could mean everything.
It could be what Rilke meant, when he wrote:
You must change your life.
~Mary Oliver
3/3
Whether in daytime or in nighttime
I always carry inside
a light.
In the middle of noise and turmoil
I carry silence.
Always
I carry light and silence.
~ Anna Swir
#poetry
I always carry inside
a light.
In the middle of noise and turmoil
I carry silence.
Always
I carry light and silence.
~ Anna Swir
#poetry
August 20, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Whether in daytime or in nighttime
I always carry inside
a light.
In the middle of noise and turmoil
I carry silence.
Always
I carry light and silence.
~ Anna Swir
#poetry
I always carry inside
a light.
In the middle of noise and turmoil
I carry silence.
Always
I carry light and silence.
~ Anna Swir
#poetry
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
~Mary Oliver "Mindful" from "Why I Wake Early"
photo: Tom Wray
3/3 #poetry
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
~Mary Oliver "Mindful" from "Why I Wake Early"
photo: Tom Wray
3/3 #poetry
August 1, 2025 at 3:04 PM
but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
~Mary Oliver "Mindful" from "Why I Wake Early"
photo: Tom Wray
3/3 #poetry
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light
of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?
~Mary Oliver "Mindful" from "Why I Wake Early"
photo: Tom Wray
3/3 #poetry
is a taste before
it’s anything else, and the body
can lounge for hours devouring
the important moments. Listen,
the only way
to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it
into the body first, like small
wild plums.
~Mary Oliver "The Plum Trees"
2/2 #poetry
it’s anything else, and the body
can lounge for hours devouring
the important moments. Listen,
the only way
to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it
into the body first, like small
wild plums.
~Mary Oliver "The Plum Trees"
2/2 #poetry
July 31, 2025 at 8:46 PM
is a taste before
it’s anything else, and the body
can lounge for hours devouring
the important moments. Listen,
the only way
to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it
into the body first, like small
wild plums.
~Mary Oliver "The Plum Trees"
2/2 #poetry
it’s anything else, and the body
can lounge for hours devouring
the important moments. Listen,
the only way
to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it
into the body first, like small
wild plums.
~Mary Oliver "The Plum Trees"
2/2 #poetry
And yes, on nights like tonight,
I too feel alone. but seldom do I
face it squarely enough
to see that it is a door
into the endless breath
that has no breather
into the surf that human shells
call god.
~ Mark Nepo. “Yes, We Can Talk”
3/3
I too feel alone. but seldom do I
face it squarely enough
to see that it is a door
into the endless breath
that has no breather
into the surf that human shells
call god.
~ Mark Nepo. “Yes, We Can Talk”
3/3
July 30, 2025 at 5:49 PM
And yes, on nights like tonight,
I too feel alone. but seldom do I
face it squarely enough
to see that it is a door
into the endless breath
that has no breather
into the surf that human shells
call god.
~ Mark Nepo. “Yes, We Can Talk”
3/3
I too feel alone. but seldom do I
face it squarely enough
to see that it is a door
into the endless breath
that has no breather
into the surf that human shells
call god.
~ Mark Nepo. “Yes, We Can Talk”
3/3
to have risked yourself for something that seemed
to stand both inside you and far beyond you,
and that called you back in the end
to the only road you could follow...
~ David Whyte
Excerpt from “Santiago”
Photo: David Whyte
4/4 #poetry
to stand both inside you and far beyond you,
and that called you back in the end
to the only road you could follow...
~ David Whyte
Excerpt from “Santiago”
Photo: David Whyte
4/4 #poetry
June 28, 2025 at 2:34 PM
to have risked yourself for something that seemed
to stand both inside you and far beyond you,
and that called you back in the end
to the only road you could follow...
~ David Whyte
Excerpt from “Santiago”
Photo: David Whyte
4/4 #poetry
to stand both inside you and far beyond you,
and that called you back in the end
to the only road you could follow...
~ David Whyte
Excerpt from “Santiago”
Photo: David Whyte
4/4 #poetry
Now I know why people worship, carry around
magic emblems, wake up talking dreams
they teach to their children: the world speaks.
The world speaks everything to us.
It is our only friend.
~ William Stafford. “Earth Dweller”
photo: Lars Mikkelsen 3/3
magic emblems, wake up talking dreams
they teach to their children: the world speaks.
The world speaks everything to us.
It is our only friend.
~ William Stafford. “Earth Dweller”
photo: Lars Mikkelsen 3/3
June 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Now I know why people worship, carry around
magic emblems, wake up talking dreams
they teach to their children: the world speaks.
The world speaks everything to us.
It is our only friend.
~ William Stafford. “Earth Dweller”
photo: Lars Mikkelsen 3/3
magic emblems, wake up talking dreams
they teach to their children: the world speaks.
The world speaks everything to us.
It is our only friend.
~ William Stafford. “Earth Dweller”
photo: Lars Mikkelsen 3/3
Concentrate! Keep your door closed
and your enemies closer.
Finally, don’t take the moral high horse:
if the metaphor fits, walk a mile in it.
~ Brian Bilston
3/3
and your enemies closer.
Finally, don’t take the moral high horse:
if the metaphor fits, walk a mile in it.
~ Brian Bilston
3/3
June 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Concentrate! Keep your door closed
and your enemies closer.
Finally, don’t take the moral high horse:
if the metaphor fits, walk a mile in it.
~ Brian Bilston
3/3
and your enemies closer.
Finally, don’t take the moral high horse:
if the metaphor fits, walk a mile in it.
~ Brian Bilston
3/3
Everything that touches us, me and you,
takes us together like a violin's bow,
which draws one voice out of two separate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke, “Love Song”
transl Stephen Mitchell
takes us together like a violin's bow,
which draws one voice out of two separate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke, “Love Song”
transl Stephen Mitchell
June 4, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Everything that touches us, me and you,
takes us together like a violin's bow,
which draws one voice out of two separate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke, “Love Song”
transl Stephen Mitchell
takes us together like a violin's bow,
which draws one voice out of two separate strings.
Upon what instrument are we two spanned?
And what musician holds us in his hand?
Oh sweetest song.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke, “Love Song”
transl Stephen Mitchell
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!
Tewa People. “Song of the Sky Loom”
2/2
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!
Tewa People. “Song of the Sky Loom”
2/2
May 29, 2025 at 7:39 PM
May the border be the standing rainbow.
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!
Tewa People. “Song of the Sky Loom”
2/2
Thus weave for us a garment of brightness
That we may walk fittingly where birds sing,
That we may walk fittingly where grass is green,
Oh our Mother the Earth, oh our Father the Sky!
Tewa People. “Song of the Sky Loom”
2/2
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
~ John O’Donohue.
“The Inner History of a Day”
5/5 #poetry
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
~ John O’Donohue.
“The Inner History of a Day”
5/5 #poetry
May 27, 2025 at 11:56 PM
So at the end of this day, we give thanks
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
~ John O’Donohue.
“The Inner History of a Day”
5/5 #poetry
For being betrothed to the unknown
And for the secret work
Through which the mind of the day
And wisdom of the soul become one.
~ John O’Donohue.
“The Inner History of a Day”
5/5 #poetry
This bowing to sun and moon, day or night,
Winter, summer, storm, Still—this tranquil
Chaos that seems to be going somewhere.
This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it.
This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.
- William Stafford. “Time for Serenity Anyone?”
2/2
Winter, summer, storm, Still—this tranquil
Chaos that seems to be going somewhere.
This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it.
This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.
- William Stafford. “Time for Serenity Anyone?”
2/2
May 24, 2025 at 4:57 AM
This bowing to sun and moon, day or night,
Winter, summer, storm, Still—this tranquil
Chaos that seems to be going somewhere.
This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it.
This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.
- William Stafford. “Time for Serenity Anyone?”
2/2
Winter, summer, storm, Still—this tranquil
Chaos that seems to be going somewhere.
This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it.
This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.
- William Stafford. “Time for Serenity Anyone?”
2/2
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.
~William Blake
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.
~William Blake
May 18, 2025 at 12:19 PM
He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.
~William Blake
Does the winged life destroy.
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.
~William Blake
Michael the archangel says
that for each minute
one forgets
there wither sixty flowers
of remembrance -
that is why he goes through the night
reaping with his silver sword
the jasmines of flame,
the stars beyond count,
he gathers on his shield
the full moon.
~ Rafael Jesús González
that for each minute
one forgets
there wither sixty flowers
of remembrance -
that is why he goes through the night
reaping with his silver sword
the jasmines of flame,
the stars beyond count,
he gathers on his shield
the full moon.
~ Rafael Jesús González
May 13, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Michael the archangel says
that for each minute
one forgets
there wither sixty flowers
of remembrance -
that is why he goes through the night
reaping with his silver sword
the jasmines of flame,
the stars beyond count,
he gathers on his shield
the full moon.
~ Rafael Jesús González
that for each minute
one forgets
there wither sixty flowers
of remembrance -
that is why he goes through the night
reaping with his silver sword
the jasmines of flame,
the stars beyond count,
he gathers on his shield
the full moon.
~ Rafael Jesús González