This morning before I rise

it occurs to me

to at least say 

Thank You

to the smiling inner godlet

who walks the path of life with me,

insisting ever so repetitively

that I keep looking 

where I’m going

so as not to miss the spot

where the Yes and No 

diverge

With saintly patience,

Here! 

he chuckles

and here, and here, and here! 

ad infinitum 

urging me 

with gentle urgency

to take the brave

unthinkable step

that transmutes 

absolutely 

everything:

Say Yes, he says,

no matter what,

to all that is 

and was and will be – 

Yes, this 

is how things are right now

and this is what 

I really want to see and be

and this

was the best I could do back then

because i simply

couldn’t see

And if I listen 

and follow his advice,

my old enemy,

Reality,

turning out to be

more lithe and flexible

than I ever could have believed,

does a lovely double flip

on her trampoline

and dissolves

into the sweet embrace

of Being

The Yes
Trudi Lee Richards

Trudi Lee Richards

Trudi Lee Richards, a poetic and musical member of the Universal Human Nation, is the author of On Wings of Intent, a biography of Silo; Soft Brushes with Death, a Jorge Espinet Primer; Confessions of Olivia, a fictional autobiography; and Fish Scribbles. She has also co-authored two books: Experiences on the Threshold and Ambrosia - Poetic Recipes/Recetas poeticas. Exactly two of her poems have been published by anyone other than her less-than-modest self: “The Great 21st Century Poemic" appeared in the April 2021 edition of Global Poemic (globalpoemic.wordpress.com); and "Fairies of the Forest" appeared in the Palo Alto Times "Youth Said It" column in 1957. In the '90s she also wrote for, edited and published an independent San Francisco newspaper, Human Future; and in the '70s she co-founded the San Francisco arts publication La Mamelle, which morphed into Art Com before it died, and whose remnants are now housed in the Stanford Archives. A graduate of Stanford University, she helped raise several humans from infancy, and is now enjoying their friendship. Currently she tends to wander between Oregon and California, enjoying the company of her beloved community of friends and family. She can more or less reliably be found at the west coast Park of Study and Reflection, outside Red Bluff in Northern California, on the third Saturday of every month.