Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Saturday, August 12, 2023

Soldier of Love





I want to drag this wounded soldier of love down into the heart's embrace, beneath the beating walls far from the noise of war, and all the ideas that robbed me of my light.

Climbing to the mountain top, arrayed in all my fine armor, I exhausted myself in that rarified air of reason.

Blindly, I muscled upward toward the imagined pinnacle, a forced march, prodded  by the wounds of pride and doubt always remaining just below the intended place of victory,  always shifting just beyond reach.

In the fading light, I see now the relentless ascent was useful only for understanding that reason has no coin in the heart's realm, and that the  alure of the battle cry and promise of victory only deafened and blinded me with the illusion that soaring is better than diving. 

Sunday, July 10, 2022

The Edgy Dharma : Beauty Like A River

The Edgy Dharma : Beauty Like A River: Trust is the hardest thing Believing that with enough Silence, enough stillness Our earthly tethers will Slacken their hold just eno...

The Edgy Dharma : Brook And Sparrow

The Edgy Dharma : Brook And Sparrow: Brook And Sparrow I come to work the earth, my heart To shape this precious stillness And exchange sad stories For the fragrant humus,...

The Edgy Dharma : Hawkscry (A Poem By Linda Metzner)

The Edgy Dharma : Hawkscry (A Poem By Linda Metzner): New Hawkscry Poem by Linda Metzner via  Hawkscry  by William on 8/26/12 This poem was written at Hawkscry on Saturday, August 25th, 2...

The Edgy Dharma : L'école des ruisseaux

The Edgy Dharma : L'école des ruisseaux: L'école des ruisseaux by Zsolt Miklya Animation by Peter Vcaz Une montagne parle, Une vallée murmure, Le ciel écoute, En silence...

The Edgy Dharma : Falling Heavenward

The Edgy Dharma : Falling Heavenward: Falling Heavenward All around signs of expectation Sound deep within... A lone string grown slack On a forgotten instrument Vib...

The Edgy Dharma : Mary Oliver

The Edgy Dharma : Mary Oliver: Oh, to love what is lovely, and will not last! What a task to ask of anything, or anyone, yet it is ours, and not by the century or th...

The Edgy Dharma : Daffy Duck In Hollywood by John Ashbery

The Edgy Dharma : Daffy Duck In Hollywood by John Ashbery: For lovers of language! I am smitten by the impeccable use of language so beautifully recited by Tom O'Bedlam (SpokenVerse). I love the ...

The Edgy Dharma : Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

The Edgy Dharma : Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

The Edgy Dharma : Birdsong From Inside The Egg

The Edgy Dharma : Birdsong From Inside The Egg:   Birdsong From Inside The Egg Sometimes a lover of God may faint In the presence. Then the Beloved bends And whispers in his ear, “Be...

The Edgy Dharma : The Honored Guest

The Edgy Dharma : The Honored Guest:      The Honored Guest Outside my window  An invitation to dance Sways in the wind and The warm hand of that light Smooth...

The Edgy Dharma : Hommage To The Oaks

The Edgy Dharma : Hommage To The Oaks:   Lately I saw you standing,  brilliant, naked sun everywhere  streaming incandescent photons like Threads of silver  On your knotted bo...

The Edgy Dharma : Lost (Poem by David Wagoner)

The Edgy Dharma : Lost (Poem by David Wagoner): I found this lovely reminder on Krista Tippett's blog .  It seems to capture the truth of what it means to be in the present as apposed...

The Edgy Dharma : What Time Is It Where You Are? (William Stanhope)

The Edgy Dharma : What Time Is It Where You Are? (William Stanhope): What time is it where you are? Here leaves fall in golden showers Leaving branches one by one A miracle of delicate grace Falling in...

The Edgy Dharma : Lost (Poem by David Wagoner)

The Edgy Dharma : Lost (Poem by David Wagoner): I found this lovely reminder on Krista Tippett's blog .  It seems to capture the truth of what it means to be in the present as apposed...

The Edgy Dharma : What Time Is It Where You Are? (William Stanhope)

The Edgy Dharma : What Time Is It Where You Are? (William Stanhope): What time is it where you are? Here leaves fall in golden showers Leaving branches one by one A miracle of delicate grace Falling in...

The Edgy Dharma : The Hardest Work In The World

The Edgy Dharma : The Hardest Work In The World: This spontaneous prayer jumped into my head this morning while walking: Lord, let all that I do, and say, and thi...

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Thay's passing into the cloudland

 A poem to commemorate the passing of Thich Nhat Hahn on January 22, 2022 at midnight.










The winds blow with no coming and no going

The waves roll but do not move

The mountain sits firmly on shifting ground

What is essential remains in that groundless expanse



I first met Thich Nhat Hahn in 2009 when I went to Omega Institute in New York. I was expecting there to be about 50 people, as it was billed as a small gathering for a weekend meditation. It turned out to be an overflow of 500 people crammed into the main hall. At first I was disappointed thinking the experience would be dimmed by the numbers. In fact I couldn't have been more wrong. Being in the presence of Thay with 500 other people of single mind and purpose only served to magnify his peaceful presence and spiritual power. Have you ever been with 500 people and could hear a pin drop? Very moving. I especially remember the walking meditation. Thay gathered the children around him, They had the choice position, some even holding his hand. I was just beautiful to see how deeply they were connected. Thay knew that the idea of Interbeing was most fully appreciated by young childre who didn't need much convincing to believe in their connection to everything and everyone, especially children lucky enough to have parents that would bring them to Omega for a meditation retreat!



Thursday, January 28, 2016

All Is Love: Prayer of Gratitude

Listening to the music of Findlay Brown, especially his poignant song All Is Love inspired this prayer. Many thnks to Findlay Brown for the inspiration.
Image result for love and creation

All is LOVE prayer

Great spirit,  force that unites all
Help us crawl back into our hearts
Where all illusions will fall apart
And unite us in one infinite body of love

Help us to see, hear, taste, smell, and imagine
With heart senses intact and
Once again inhabit a world that
Endlessly inspires us with its song
To discern how we fit into the miracle of creation

Help us to see clearly with our heart senses intact
So that gratitude fills every breath
With a song of praise to the great force of love
That has brought us to this very moment
Across an infinity of time and space

And help us to know that what we imagine in our mind
We can bring forth into the world to sanctify this love force
That through our minds we can create a world
Where every being has the dignity and the freedom
To dance their sublime duet with the creator

All is LOVE
And love is you

Friday, December 28, 2012

Why Just Ask the Donkey? (Hafiz)



  • Why Just Ask the Donkey?

    Why
    Just ask the donkey in me
    To speak to the donkey in you.

    When I have so many other beautiful animals
    And brilliant colored birds inside
    That are all longing to say something wonderful
    And exciting to your heart?

    Let's open all the locked doors upon our eyes
    That keep us from knowing the Intelligence
    That begets love
    And a more lively and satisfying conversation
    With the Friend.

    Let's turn loose our golden falcons
    So that they can meet in the sky
    Where our spirits belong -
    Necking like two
    Hot kids.

    Let's hold hands and get drunk near the sun
    And sing sweet songs to the Goddess
    Until She joins us with a few notes
    From Her own sublime lute and drum

    If you have a better idea
    Of how to pass a lonely night
    After your glands may have performed
    All their little magic
    Then speak up sweethearts, speak up,
    For Hafiz and all the world will listen.

    Why just bring your donkey to me
    Asking for stale hay
    And a boring conference with the idiot
    In regards to this precious matter -
    Such a precious matter as love,

    When I have so many other divine animals
    And brilliant colored birds inside
    That are all longing
    To so sweetly
    Greet
    You