I Believe In Eternal Life

What difference would it make not to perform each daily task, were I not to observe the duties and had not the faith to ask?

What difference could it make if one person failed the test, neglecting to do the right things that would benefit all the rest?

I believe in eternal life. It makes my life worthwhile imbuing me with peacefulness, and the wonder of a child.

I believe in eternal life. It frees me from the guilt that others feel should be the lot, on which my life is built.

I believe in eternal life. It dispels the bold illusion of man's being at the center, permitting marvelous inclusion.

I believe in eternal life, in the tired and tested hope of all past generations, giving me will to cope.

What difference would it make if death were absolute, the end? Infinite longing for perfect peace would linger, unfulfilled in men.

By Audrey Manning

Intuition

I float in the ocean of life
with the individual that I am and that
I aspire to be, within this earthly realm,
erased.

I undergo release from thinking
and disappear into joy, until thoughts allow
the pressures of early concerns again to
emerge.

I have found briefly the intuition
that tries to heal the split of human duality,
and experience profound peacefulness
within.

I am aware for a few moments
of the joy of being illuminated, and of the
spirituality that is possible for humans to
experience.

I wonder, why is it not feasible
to hold on to this feeling of utter bliss?
Deep intuition knows conflict still reigns
supreme!

by Audrey Manning

The 100 Days

The winner stands above and from his sphere

Know wrathful [gods] will bide their time and wait,

Smiting the hour they lost the prize held dear,

Received that fated day through unlocked gate.

So the victor opened up our world

And changed what customs' dictates did reveal.

For wond'ring people justness did unfurl –

One hundred days of hope and zest and zeal.

And winds of change inspire a pleasing tale.

Yet caution you, sir, to hold fast the reins.

Know kismet's power and fate's resistless gale

And how a twist of fate may scatter gains.

Your strength and master's skill will still be tried.

And friends will tasks, with eagerness, divide.

by Audrey Manning

A BRUSH WITH WILD ABANDON

Silvery sunlight danced across the wings of butterflies

Sending prisms of flickering light through the air

As they spread their iridescent wings in joy.

Glittering, brilliant silhouettes, mosaics of color,

Airy grace lifting skywards leaving enchantment in its wake.

To call it instinct is to ignore the mesmerizing

many-shaded nuances

Of the magical, mystical twilight of mind and matter.

Laugh, for hinged between their gleaming forms and you

Lie natural extensions of body language.

Clever design work, quaint and whimsical,

but a beautiful world away

tell of sketching blossoms

which flourish only in imagination.

Scribe a circle; square the edges.

Life's meaning has disappeared

As bouquets scattered in wild abandon.

Two years of memories forever inside, a gift.

It's barely dawn but the word is,

the time has come to make tracks.

by Audrey Manning