The Alli Cat

By Dan Hoffe

Like gentle morning dew,
So magical and clear,
Your smile tends to greet me,
Before you even appear.

For I know now,
That you truly see,
And accept me,
Just as I am,
For I know now,
That you will always challenge me,
When you think I’m going astray,
For I know now,
That your sole/soul purpose,
In meeting with me,
Is to hold sacred space open for me,
Wherein, I can do the work,
To finally find,
And unite,
With my higher self.

Whether I am lost and confused,
Or angry and conflicted,
Your advice,
And our journeying together,
Always help me,
To find my way home,
To myself,
To the spiritual being,
Who lives inside of me,
And who wants nothing more,
Than for me to finally wake up,
And realize,
Just how precious,
The gift of being me is,
In this lifetime.

With you as my guide,

I’m learning to become impeccable,
I’m learning to confront my demons,
I’m learning to no longer be ashamed of my wounds,

For you’ve truly helped me,
To find the courage necessary,
To dig down deep within myself,
And to fully experience,
And embrace the pain,
That’s waiting there,
To greet me,
And to continue to drill through it anyway,
Never stopping, no matter what,
Until I finally breakthrough,
To the other side,
And uncover,
The rich vein of gold,
The lesson,
That my wound’s been patiently waiting for years,
To teach me,
So that I can bring it back,
And share it with others,
And be of service to them,
As they blaze their own beautiful trails,
Through the wilderness,
Of life.

And I’m eternally grateful to you,
For helping me to change,
The way I communicate with my wife,
For helping me to realize,
That for far too long,
I’d simply been putting her in a box,
Up on a shelf, in my mind,
Based solely upon my beliefs,
As to how she’d responded,
Positively,
Or, negatively,
To something in the past.

With your tender touch,
You slowly steered me,
Towards being more vulnerable,
And taught me,
The importance,
Of always speaking in the first person, “I”,
So as to create a safe space for others,
To feel comfortable enough,
To share with me,
What they’re truly feeling,
Instead of me,
Trying to manipulate their answers,
In an attempt to avoid potential conflict,
By using the second person, “You”,
By using declarative sentences,
By always ending anything I said with,
“Don’t you agree?”
And,
“Isn’t that right?”

And while it may not have seemed to you,
From the outside,
That I was making much progress,
I was actually changing,
Rapidly within,
Where it counts,
For under your tutelage,
I learned to approach,
All of my conversations,
With a beginner’s mind,
One that’s present, open,
And ready to hear,
From the beautiful being,
Whoever he or she may be,
That’s actually standing before me,
Right in front of me,
Now,
In this very moment,
Instead of always categorizing, labeling,
And putting people into neat little boxes,
Based upon how I felt,
Some ghost from their past,
Who no longer exists anywhere,
But in the recesses of my mind,
Spoke to me.

And most of all,
I love your humility,
And the way you make me feel,
That we’re simply fellow travelers,
Walking each other home.

And I truly enjoy meeting with you,
Outside, in the park,
Under the sumptuous shade,
Of the Banyan trees,
You know the ones,
We’ve named them together,
Either Ganesha,
Or, Sachamama,
Where like Buddha before us,
We share our thoughts,
We listen to our hearts,
We learn to hear the faint whisper,
Of that still small voice,
That’s telling us,
Whatever experiences,
That may come into our lives,
Are always,
In the intention of the highest good,
Are always,
Aligning me with the path of my highest potential,
So that like Rumpelstiltskin before me,
I can learn to spin straw into gold,
And I can make my life brilliant.

For I know now,
That the universe always has my back,
And it wants me to learn the lessons,
That I’ve chosen, for this lifetime,
And it wants me to revel in,
And to enjoy,

Our conversations,
Our friendship,
Our love,

And it wants me to appreciate,
This one brief,
And precious moment,
That we call,
Life.