Poetry

Aug132016

Acceptance

Content with my mediocrity,
Contrite aspirations pronounce properly,
Worldly grandiose desiring not,
Nor the slightest aggrandizement,
Despairing not for the lesser,
Rejecting unjust reduction of Divine intent,
Nor unfit settling into degradation,
Ostentatious standards negated,
Lunatic fringe austerity refined away,
Not asking too much,
Not accepting too little,
Feasting upon that which is placed upon the plate,
All things worth doing are worth doing ordinary,
Normality in stout nature,
Little in hidden disguise,
A face lovingly blending into the crowd,
A toiling man working to be fed,
A gentle man patient and kind,
Satisfied, able to delight quiet in a crowd,
Affirmed, enough is enough,

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Aug122016

A pang of conscience

I sang the song of silence within the chaos of a life,
I never knew how to talk to anyone,
Condemnation within the lack of consul,
All the time struggling and splashing,
Creating voluminous waves,
Grace unfolding,
Praise unknowing,
Being young,
I never meant to hurt so many people,
So many people, places, faces, and things,
I never knew I would meet so many people,
It was cold and it rained,
I felt like an actor,
The mirror reflecting sadness,
Disappointment and delusion,
I never really knew what I meant,
Imitating the glamor of forbidden queens,
An unwinding hurricane entangling,
A deep longing infusing confidence to proceed forward,
Never missing the beat of the drums,
The wailing of guitars,
The gnashing of teeth,
I never doubted myself while unable to accomplish anything,
In jest, the fool’s folly becomes a quest,
Others tag along, others disappear,
Isolation burrows into detachment,
Deep rumblings of something greater usurping the sounds of shattering,
The cracking of unguarded moments,
Carelessness, hopelessness, and despair,
Safe-keeping the defense of desperate yearnings,
Solutions were never within reach,
Practicality a lack of speech,
Unable to speak in tongues,
Never having anything to say,
Unwashed, barely able to go to bed,
Bright-eyed fearfully young and dazed,
There was no rest,
Boy your getting out of hand,
As the kid on the street just reads, and reads, and reads,
Peace perceived as a dangerous state,
The self-induced darkness entertained through failure,
A stealth misdirection,
A slight of hand,
A spiritual birth occurring, waiting,
The recognition of a multitude of wounds,
The head bleeding,
The eyes sore,
The ears ringing,
The mouth tasting of blood,
Spitting forgotten foreign words,
A hint of truth within the brutality,
Driving alone shouting and screaming,
Dreaming of violence, dreaming of prayer,
The hands grow old,
Prayer affirmed, a gift intent,
The feet ache,
Sitting still becomes solace,
The back is stiff,
It takes an outside force to cease motion,
In kindness to remember,
Looking back removed from anger,
How did I ever get here?
God is good and all giving!

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Aug012016

A poem of longing

I need you to lull this sick heart to sleep, and this soul that never knew how to find you, and this wounded flesh that still yearns for you.

You must give me serenity, and you yourself must do it, for nobody else can. I need you to flow over me like water, to quench me, flood me and leave me at rest. Just once! To be at rest in this world!

I have a great desire to sleep, even if it’s under a plot of earth, but only if the earth above me doesn’t resemble what I loved so hopelessly while I was alive, only if I stop finding in the earth this gasping I call a life.

I fear nothing so much as ceaselessly being myself. I’m afraid of knowing myself without having known you.

I feel so weary. As if I wrestled with the sea, as if the waves pummeled my body and hurled it against the rocks, and then I, in a sudden fury, grabbed it and tucked it under my arm.

My bones ache. The very blouse on my back aches. And my solitude aches, too, ever since you let me press my mouth to it and blow it into flame.  –Dulce María Loynez ‘Absolute Solitude’

3jpg Dulce María Loynaz

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Jul242016

Do You Know This Too?

Do you know this too?
You are in the middle of a cheerful party,
When a sudden stillness takes hold of you,
And you hastily have to leave the happy hall.

Back in your bed you lay awake,
Similar to someone suffering a sudden heartache.
The fun and laughter disappear like smoke,
And you break into tears:
Do you know this too?

Herman Hesse

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‘Sunset From Home’ Charles Hamm

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Jul232016

Into Nowhere Everywhere

Grace naturally arising,
An unguarded moment ordinary,
Extraordinary realizing pleasure,
Satiation caressing without knowing,
Tickled into unaware submission,
Standing on the shoulders of Saints,
Nothing declarative,
Unique in simplicity of thought,
St Jude pray for me,
I am so helpless and alone,
A moment of being fully human,
Surrender, defeat, humility on a higher plateau,
Cutting away premeditation, pretense, delusion,
Beyond all the bondage that promotes self,
Desire and needs usurped,
Properly forming identity within immersion in the moment,
Reposing into the luxury of accumulated spiritual exercising,
Stone by stone,
Breath by breath,
Lord do to me that which hurts.

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Jul222016

Adrift at sea

Give up learning, and put an end to your troubles.
Is there a difference between yes and no?
Is there a difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear?
What nonsence!
Other people are contented,
Enjoying the sacrificial feast of the ox.
In spring some go to the park, and climb the terrace,
But I alone am drifting not knowing where I am.
Like a new-born babe before it learns to smile,
I am alone, without a place to go.

Other have more than they need,
but I alone have nothing.
I am a fool.
Oh, yes! I am confused.
Other men are clear and bright,
But I alone am dim and weak.
Other men are sharp and clever,
But I alone am dull and stupid.
Oh, I drift like the waves of the sea.
Without direction,
like the restless wind.

Everyone else is busy,
But I alone am aimless and depressed.
I am different.
I am nourished by the great mother.

Unknown poet

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Jul202016

Books

All the books of the world
will not bring you happiness,
but build a secret path toward your heart.

What you need is in you:
the sun, the stars, the moon,
the illumination you were seeking shines up from within you.

The quest for wisdom
made you comb the libraries.
Now every page speaks the truth
that flashes forth from you.

–Herman Hesse

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