we cup mist in our hands
as it if it were diamonds
slipping through our fingers
we fumble for solid ground
groundless
naked
cold mountain creeks
contain the entire path
all around—
the truth is laid bare
if you are naked
both
both alive and dead
life at the edge—
all is manifest and free
seduced
seduced by truth
god swallows himself
a trembling awe
at the unfathomable
magnificence
of existence
gate gate paragate parasamgate, bodhi svaha
naturally
beyond all desire
we encounter the ineffable
and it strikes the heart of all things
free to be what they are
peace blossoms
naturally
balanced
the rainbow of life
is self-spontaneous
the balanced mind
need not reach for it
no place to stand
silence resting
no scales to balance
preferences forgotten
this and that have nowhere to land
when time has no place to stand
laughing buddha
laughing with someone you love
conquers time
conquers wars
and conquers death
laughing with someone you love
is diving into the ocean after rolling in mud
is drinking ice tea in the desert
is meeting your guru
is timeless
laughing with someone you love is a hair’s breadth from enlightenment
marvellous
it is marvellous
the existence of things
especially those that live
perhaps we marvelled ourselves into existence
enthralled by our own genius
we dove into a painting
untie
untie the knot in your heart
and remember the child that you are
remember running wild
just to find the best tree to climb
or the best hill to roll down
or the feeling of diving into water
you still love it even now
only you have forgotten
the innocent scent of freedom
melody
to pass through to love
we must be quiet enough
and vulnerable enough
to hear the melody of our pain
tender
the tender way
is the way of fearless humility
meeting life through the body and heart
forgetting aboveness
forgetting belowness
forgetting even beyondness
at home with things
and people
solitary
even if you cast me out
into a cardboard box
a solitary cell
or a bed with a disintegrating brain
I will share with you my heart
I will give my body
in exchange for truth
and for the light of existence
I will take the leap over the edge
and find the featherbed
or bed of nails
I do not know even a second more
and not the least shape of things
but I will listen to you
dear life
and I will fold
like the canals
through the city
and I will sing my soul loudly
just because I’m alive
not by mistake
but by mystery
masterpiece
to touch that part
that hidden gemstone
buried beneath worry
buried beneath fear
buried beneath pride
to touch that part
savour
each thing
each pulse of the senses
each thought a treasure
each impulse a god
each arising a release
and so
what art thou?
but a masterpiece
truth
If only I could write
myself out of this poem
it might ring true
wellspring
serenity in being
the simplest thing
the nothing at our core
the wellspring of our lore
no tale of transcendence
no precious awakening
just a homage to our soul
empty and serene
hide and seek
I rejoice that we played this game
of hide and seek
for the storm
it was a shower
the fire
it was a heater
the pain
it was a lover
and freedom
was the sound
of a doorbell…
from within my home
exiled
it’s okay to put the world aside
now and then
to remember your place
in the garden
never once exiled
never once leaving home
floating
everything being of one substance
which is no-substance
and seeing that every speck of dust
is floating space
what can we hold onto?
stone
tell me, is there a story within you?
what does it say, about what you ought to be?
do you remember tearing those pages out of a book somewhere?
when did they turn to stone
and become so heavy?
well, it’s good fortune then
that you’re unable to carry…
anything at all
home
do we really need to prove anything at all?
come home, my dear
there’s no shame in the simple
the wilderness is right here
pretence
with this cage of ribs
with this narrow mind
with these churning thoughts
a sharp sword through a gentle stream—
I pretend to cut the ocean
I pretend to imprison the heart
tomorrow
when tomorrow
has my heart
today
is a sorrow away
stillness
there is a stillness inside
where an earthquake could not
shake the edges of your smile
shapeless
look back and it’s gone
look forward and you’ve become an actor
look straight ahead and assume a posture that is serenely available
truth is total abandon to what must be
it is courage itself
for what is courage but a step forward into a moment without a shape?
a fish in a net is as good as dead
problems
laying bare on granite
the sound of the waterfall fills the entire universe
where is there such thing as a problem?
death
it is wise not to love someone too much while they are still alive
love them instead each time that they die in your arms
eyes on eyes, hands in hands
take moments to die together each day
an ode to apes in tuxedos
oh how the stars draw us out from the mud of our original homes
tasting fine wine and aged cheese, we lock ourselves in time
we polarise and we jeopardise our innocence for projections of better lives:
a greener garden, a deeper love, a bigger bank of plastic paper and kings and queens and untold horrors, we sacrifice our innocence…
we lock ourselves in time
oh but hollow are thine thoughts
oh but hollow is thine money
oh but empty is thine stomach
after caviar and wine
for no love was made in the future
no baby born in the past
no ecstasy is to be found
in words and drawings
so tell thine favourite stories
draw to thy hearts content
but on thine dying bed
with thine head on thy lovers lap
do not touch a single thought
do not long for thine mind
For thy are here
eternally here
do not miss it…
thine death is ever-present