I stepped out onto my balcony to look at the sea.
My eye was caught by a fluttering below in the garden.
A butterfly was beating its wings
fighting to free itself
from entrapment
in an old abandoned spider web.
I went down to the garden
and released it.
And I thought of the old webs of hatred
that trap us today in needless suffering
and death.
Now is the time to clean house.
Now is the time to brush away the cobwebs
of fear, despair, and revenge.
Now is the time to acknowledge
our unity with all beings,
release the innocent, redeem the guilty,
and recognize that in each of us
is spider and butterfly
web and flower
death and rebirth.
Love all sentient beings
for we are kin.
Love all the land and sea scapes
of our sacred home, earth.
Love is the god-force that abides
in every atom of the universe.
Let love
abolish suffering
from the garden.
So the passion flowers
can give their sweet nectar
to an eager world.
Tony Rose – 9/14/01
