Category: Tenneson Woolf Poetry

Nowness remains quite a teacher for me. Sometimes, I’m following Nowness, efforting and fumbling my way. Sometimes, Nowness teachings spiral their way into my body, and so much of life turns effortless. Sometimes, Nowness and I go together, with the ease of afternoon tea, enjoyed spaciously. Nowness teaches me in work, in workshops. Nowness teaches me in life, in living.

So, a little harvest of Nowness below. Received in an afternoon walk.

I Only Know What To Do Is Now
Tenneson Woolf

I only know
to do
what comes from the Now.

In the Now
I live with lover’s love for yes.

I walk the little Dog, because it is time.
I smile extra at the purple Iris blossoms, because they are there.
I thank the red rust leaves of Maple, because she’s magnificent.
I say hello to the squabbling young kids returning from school, because they need seeing.

I only know,
and keep learning,
to do
what comes from the poignant Now.

I know
to listen
keenly.

I often wish I could plan better into the future,
which sometimes is my focus.

But it just might be that my best contribution is 
my surrender to this very moment.

I only know
to do
what is, Now.

New beginnings is a common theme for my poetry, for my writing. I suppose it speaks to the courage I’ve had to muster in a few circumstances of life when much has been lost. I suppose it speaks to the encouragements I’ve offered to others doing similarly. And then there is the regular complexity of life and profession, that requires the imagination and conviction of experiments here and there, that bring life, learning, and new beginning.

There is a flowering that has often felt so important to me to remember — that longing that I have, and that so many of us have, to come fully into the garden presence, indeed, to become the garden with and among others. The Allium above offers its purple being, standing tall, greeting neighbors, and glistening in morning sun. From that a few words below to encourage the opening and flowering heart.

Just one step.
Just one next step.
It doesn’t matter so much, which step.
Start again.

Just one person.
Just one next person.
It doesn’t matter so much, who.
Just open.

Be in the Now.
Be in your heart.
Be in loveliness.
And unfold to the world calling and celebrating you.

Waking Vow
Tenneson Woolf

It is just after 6:00 in the morning.
Birds are chirping vibrantly, as they do.
The sky is a matte blue, not yet kissed by the direct rays of sun 
asdthat will soon reach over the Wasatch Mountains. 
Lawn and garden sprinklers cycle through programmed schedules.

All of it brings a freshness.
A new day, a commitment.
A naturalness, an ongoingness.
asdA reliability.
All things that I’ve struggled to feel over the last many months.

It seems true to me that most of us 
seek the aliveness of a new morning, 
that calls us into fresh being. 
asdThat wakes us to what wants to be lived fully.
That invokes our vow of a next flowering step.

My heart continues to learn that simple things are often potent things.
With slightest of my attention, I remember.
That the beauty of blossom invites flowering from within and with others.
That the persistence of rhubarb calls forth an irrepressible bigness..
That the coffee with a tinge of chocolate can swirl surprising delight.

My heart continues to learn that joy and love are radical and astounding gifts and practices.
With slightest of my openness, I remember.
That human beings everywhere enjoy play.
That human beings everywhere wish kindness in things small and large.
That even in the fights of our times, there is blessing that cherishes our company.