Tony Cardo Poems & Expressions

28/08/2025

One step at a time

While the world is trying to shape us, every day, so too is the Divine trying to do the same.

You live
You love
You see the core
You will see the joy
The beauty
The gentleness

Of being alive

Shape me in the image of you
Shape me while the storms will blow
Shape me in the image of the moment
Shape me while my heart is feeling true

May each day be filled with you
May each gesture from the heart
Give us the gift of higher knowing
Give us the gift of another start
*
- inspired by Prem Rawat

11/08/2025

In Oregon, people love to fly kites at the beach, where the wind can create the perfect conditions for high-flying, colorful wonders. I often marvel at the beauty of this. But, what is more interesting to me is the string connected to the kite, the person’s concentration and movements, the little child asking to take a turn, the father teaching the skill, and then the child taking it over. There is so much to notice about today, where the cool sand under my feet reveals a tiny seashell, its inhabitant vacated long ago.
*

11/07/2025

https://tonycardo.substack.com

27/04/2025

Spark

“I’m cold”, said the writer
as he dutifully made his way to the window
to sit quietly
with pen and paper nearby
staring.

Acorns sprinkled among autumn leaves
outside in the cool grass, still green
the expansive lawn
the narrow cement walkway
perfect for dog walkers
nearby the towering oak.

Suddenly children running,
silent because of the window
They were not laughing
as they did in earlier years,
when they were granted a few more minutes
to play outside with friends
before it was time to come in and have dinner.

Oh my child, duty bound,
homework waiting,
the joy, innocence and warmth
once prevalent,
is now rare.
Hold firm to your self
not too tight
As seasons passed for me
they shall for you.

Here, a heavy desk,
more than enough for 3 to stand on.
A clean place for the comfortable chair
the laptop or pad of paper
a letter opener
a pen holder
a glass of water
the crystal healing stone
the window
and a cup of warm tea
to keep away the chill.

Here, favorite words could end up on paper
gathered together with other words
a unique assembly of ideas
a craft honed
and a wish
for the fragrance of a spark
the elusive intuition
that could easily start a fire.

Creative Nonfiction, Law of Attraction and Energy Healing. Click to read Journal of Whispers and Lemons - Tony Cardo, a Substack publication. Launched a month ago.

30/11/2024

Pen and Paper

I don’t need an AI tool
To deliver my reprieve
Sounding like a poet
In love with autumn leaves

I would like to write like McCartney
If I could only feel the joy
With Lennon as my partner
Reaching for the Real McCoy

I would like to write like Coleridge
If only for the fame
I would like to write like Dickinson
When no one knew her name

I would like to write like Dylan, or
Whitman's Song of Myself
With drier eyes I would celebrate
The meaning of this wealth

In the morning sunrise hopefulness
The caretaker takes good care
Of precious jewels inside of us
Laid out and always there

When the grass is looking greener
On the other side of the fence
My original style convinces me
I rarely make a dent

My effort seems like therapy
Until at last I learn to be
A pen and paper pioneer
Who only writes like me
*

24/11/2024

I’ve learned what’s right
I’ve seen what’s left of me
You chip away a little more of me
every day
Until at last I arrive at the center.

A lifetime of calling,
as if there was some reason to be saved
Other than the satisfaction of knowing
the truth lives behind every door,
no matter how large or small.

The promise of expansion and joy
And the need for redemption
Have permeated my efforts
The dance goes on, like a clock never stopping
And it lives another day without repelling.

Goodness is in me for sure
Blackness turns away from the light
for just a little while each night
And another day dawns
With or without me.

Turn the page and wash away
What do I do with the love that remains?
To follow, to listen, to give
To learn about those treasures beyond what I currently know
For the current of life moves me on until
each day dawns
With or without me.
*

14/10/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2zkXosBj1Y&t=58s

Original music, written by Tony Cardo, set to video with ambient images and scenes from Arise workshops in Portland, OR

13/10/2024

The painter dreams of painting
and then he paints his dream,
The singer sings a melody
of songs no longer living in a dream.
*

25/09/2024

I listen to the sound of a quiet heart, gently basking in the glow of the present moment, while yelling at the TV.

15/09/2024

10 Ways a Day Can Be Beautiful

1.) Opening a box of chocolate covered raisins and knowing you shouldn’t eat too many.
2.) Reading my New Yorker Magazine and getting inspired to write.
3.) Finding some money in my pocket that was in there all this time.
4.) Deciding to give it to a tattered coat sleeve holding a dirty cardboard sign.
5.) Holding Lucas on my lap while I drive slowly toward the end of the block.
6.) Hearing him giggle.
7.) Taking a breath because it feels great.
8.) Listening to the rain on the roof.
9.) Cleaning the kitchen, knowing it will get dirty again tomorrow.
10.) Turning off the TV because it disturbs my quiet.

Oh wait… that was today!

*

07/09/2024

As we strive to live in a consistency of positive emotions and visions of a better world, those around us may or may not join in the satisfaction found in reaching outward and upward toward higher knowing. What is higher knowing? How far can we move only with logical thinking? Albert Einstein said “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them”.

We take many steps in our lives, and each one can bring us closer, or farther away from our heart. The self is our real home, however long or short the time we spend with it. I love sharing this because it feels so good! It's not like I live with this perspective every minute of every day; it's more like I am a renter in a really nice place, only here for a little while, with fresh air, warm water and a beautiful view. Occasionally, a kindred soul walks over as we sit together, listen closely and talk more about it.

There lies no pretense in wanting to uncover the essence of our soul, and many times we do this through interactions with others. We share, therefore we are, and the greatest of philosophers have never revealed something so simple, something so original. Shall we be brave explorers on a search for certainty and reality? The smile on your face and your knowing glance tells us we are onto something true. Then, not unlike a dream, a soft breeze carries our words away, and we celebrate the gratitude that remains.
*

19/08/2024

Pen and Paper

I don’t need an AI tool
To deliver my reprieve
Sounding like a poet
In love with autumn leaves

I would like to write like McCartney
If I could only feel the joy
With Lennon as my partner
Reaching for the Real McCoy

I would like to write like Coleridge
If only for the fame
I would like to write like Dickinson
When no one knew her name

I would like to write like Dylan, or
Whitman's Song of Myself
With drier eyes I would celebrate
The meaning of this wealth

In the morning sunrise hopefulness
The caretaker takes good care
Of precious jewels inside of us
Laid out and always there

When the grass is looking greener
On the other side of the fence
My original style convinces me
I rarely make a dent

My effort seems like therapy
Until at last I learn to be
A pen and paper pioneer
Who only writes like me
*