Improving the World

29

Do you want to improve the world?
I don't think it can be done.

The world is sacred.
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.

There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.

The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.

From Tao Te Ching
by Lao-tzu
From a translation by S. Mitchell

Almost Sometimes

Almost Sometimes

Words like “never” or “always” are traps

into thinking that time is absolute

not like a leaf
floating down to a stream

then riding on the surface

sinking to the bottom

dissolving on its way

to the open sea

Billy Radd
Asheville

Vertex

Vertex

Whispering wind through my hair

meeting my warm skin with a kind touch

seeking no return of the greeting

as the arcing sun washes over the land

Finding me perfectly alone

bright swirling images etch my eyes

remembering the future as it evolves

before me all around in every direction

No time moving away, no space unfolding

Just now, as now, before and behind now

Riding the crest of expanding experience

my presence connects all with all

Billy Radd
Asheville

Scale

Scale

By zooming in to any detail, one sees less of its surroundings.

We call this the micro-view.

By zooming out, one sees less detail and more of its surroundings.

We call this the macro-view.

But, whether zooming in or zooming out,

there is only so much one can see at any moment.

The choice of what to focus on defines one’s frame of reference, 

and thus, one decides the scale of one thing to another

as useful signposts along The Way.

Billy Radd
Asheville

Rainbow

Rainbow

Echo of the sun

mirror of the now

reflection of a distant rain

rings of colors bow

Billy Radd
Asheville