Here

I journeyed to my ancestral tundra tonight.

Back through time to the present.

Connecting with the people, with my people, to our people.

Together we heard the universal voice

Together we listened to the voice

Together we acted upon the voice

Together with love, in love, out of love

For all that is the love.

Around the fire light of a bar

Without flames the fire burned before us and within us.

We told stories of our ancestors

We shared the knowledge and the life

Our fathers smiled tonight as we retold our lessons

Our mothers beamed with pride as we became love.

No chance meeting, no accident as we collide,

No fear or hate as we become the borealis in the sky,

lighting the horizon from end to end.

Back through time to the present

We shared the breath of life, pure and simple.


Richard Nedervelt

(I was born in Anchorage Alaska and Jack and Joy were both from tribes in Alaska) What a blessed meeting...

Poem for my Fathers, "May they Rest in Peace and Love...

In this moment, we are gathered here to remember my mothers husband and our father.
In this moment, releasing this shell we name self,he has passed on.
In this moment, remembering the son, the father, the grandfather,the husband.
In this moment, sharing each others support, sharing our joy, and our sorrow.
In this moment we gather beside one another, contemplating this man,
and how he played a role in all of our lives.
In this moment, is the Truth, and the man.
He is like us all, born into this world, laughing, crying, working, playing, stumbling, rising, loving, and losing.
It is in this moment, that we see how incredible intertwined our lives are,
and how much in common we all share.
In this moment, we become one.
It is in this moment, we become free.
In this moment, families and friends gather to acknowledge my father,
But, it is in this moment, we remain.
It is in this moment that we must say, "I love you, I honor you, I’m here for you, and I hear you."
It is in this moment that we exist.
We have no minutes or seconds already passed;
we have no certainty of where our lives will end,
All we have is now.
All we have is each other.
All we have is the kindness and love we offer and receive.
All we have is this moment and nothing more.
In this moment, I show my respects, I show my love, my sorrow, my peace.
In this moment here with you, I share my moment and then it is gone.
Rest in Peace and Love Father, you are loved.

Richard Nedervelt

I AM

“I am.”

Inside me, the BIG BANG.
Expanding in every direction and returning here.
I can’t even begin to remember when and where my universe begin,
when my unconscious mind took the first forbidden bite.
The bite of that unripe belief that cast me to my knees like Gabriel
How many years, how many earthly lifetimes, how many moment
Intellectualizing all that I have seen,
All that I have been taught,
All that I have pondered until rivers opened in the valley of my eyes.
Oh, but at this moment, the unripe is disgorged from my mind
At this moment, my rivers dry and yet, naturally others flow,
around and through.
I am the river.
At this moment, I am Alpha and Omega
At this moment, I see my reflection all around me.
Like Madonna to child, I cradle myself in LOVE
I release any condition to this love
I accept it as I receive it for myself and all others
that exists or have ever existed.
Opening my eyes for the first time
Love is reborn, like a seed in a garden I will nurture it.
I will be fertile ground in which it is placed
I will be the cool waters, the falling rains, the brightness of day,
and the solace of night.
I am forgiven for what I believed
And I accept what I have always known.
I lead with my heart
And am at peace with my mind.
I am love and I share love.
I am everything and nothing
I am.

Richard Nedervelt