Categories
Buddhism Photography Saturday Expressions

Words haven’t been invented yet | Session 14

I sit
in what should be peace
I have a mostly happy mind and yet
not knowing how to feel
amongst constant mistaken discrimination
I stare longingly into the sky
cold press of flat rusted metal bars
under my calves
lukewarm Bengal Spice on my tongue
splashed on my knee
messy me

dark periwinkle birds, raptors
highlighted in pink and gold
dance and dive, painted as clouds
across the sky
part of me wants to cry
and that’s the seeds of delusions for you

because in reality
my mind is peaceful and content
and I have no problems

Oh! How I long for a problem!

so my mind searches and searches
and it detects a sadness that was only a seedling
and I tendered the seed of sadness until
now I could pluck at any time a flower
with each its own story of sorrow
and right now my mine is one of loneliness
the most stupid delusion of all because,
rooted in self-grasping ignorance,
it pushes me toward attachment along
a line of inappropriate attention
here now I’m hooked
on something I’ve never known, never seen
another unfulfilled desire has its evil hold on me
in another I cannot find, I can’t foresee
here I’m hooked
on suffering – making a terrifying joke
out of another precious lifetime

so while I sit and wish and wait
on Dharma I will meditate
knowing with blessings karma’s Fates
will be only kind
I dedicate my merit
feel sad, feel compassion
and with only bliss now cry


Categories
Buddhism Firescape Fridays Photography

What is luck? | FF 18

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Are you feeling lucky?

Either way, I may have a secret to help you bring more luck into your life …


Gen Kelsang Rabten reveals the actual ‘secret’ to ‘good luck’
Categories
Photography Poetry

The Rideau Canal | FF 17

I made you a picnic for dinner
many nights that week

You showed me where you used to live
with your last ex (there are many)

I’ve joined the lineup
and I’m not eager to see

our once-sacred spots shared, although
in hindsight, it was predictable

your memories still float, caught
in the historic locks of

the Rideau canal


Categories
Photography

My cat is auditioning for Hamlet

One of my foster kittens is auditioning for Shakespeare’s Hamlet

— what do you think?


adoptable through Niagara Pets Alive

Categories
Firescape Fridays Photography

Firescape Fridays! | FF 1

Moving into a building with an accessible fire escape has been such a gift! I think I spent half my summer basking in the afternoon sun, reading, writing, meditating, philosophizing and watching the squirrels from this spot.

Friday afternoons seem like the perfect time to share some of the pensive poems and ponderings I’ve compiled upon my perch. Please enjoy Firescape Thoughts as we head into each weekend.


Skies

This evening’s clouds are incredible
It’s almost impossible to believe
When you peel back such beauty
You could find such ugliness beneath

Categories
Photography Poetry

Lost Cleaning Practice

By K. Samways, 2021

Things that were difficult to clean
used to be household staples

Now they are replaced 
by smooth and glossy electronics
attracting dust within a square metre radius
making for more efficient chore sessions

We are like quick machines
switching from one task to another
only able to keep an instruction in our mind
for a very brief time 
because we must keep 
switching
switching
switching
on and off 
to this and that
repeat, correct mistakes
respond, complete task
submit
submit
submit

Our sleep is restless
and we no longer question our dreams
or if we do
It is in private, a shy task abandoned
before a journal entry is made on a public platform
until a journal entry is censored on a public platform
and we cry when no one reads our diaries
how unfair
how unjust
how unliked

We are like quick machines
lacking responsibility for our actions
for we were merely programmed by our society
conditioned by the ones we loved
so we are okay with it
because we call it
normal 
normal
normal
and if we are not normal, what will others label us?
what would I label myself?
Would I call myself
nice
kind
patient 

Do you wonder what was in a woman’s mind
as she dusted her house each day
undistracted by Spotify or cell phone cry
surely not everyone was seduced by day-drinking
and of course they had
morals 
morals
morals
What was contemplated? Was it the same as
our current curse?
relentless, mean and negative
thoughts
thoughts 
thoughts

If I am like a quick machine
conditioned by culture
groomed by carrot and stick seduction
a good girl’s malediction
only one thing would be 
worse
worse
worse
And that would be to waste this opportunity
to instead program my minds to be 
peace 
peace
peace

love
love
love

joy
joy
joy

So I have filled my house
with objects that I need to
detail and clean with a fine tooth brush
so that I might learn to
focus
focus
focus
And to fill my heart
With precious living beings
I need to cherish and
love 
love 
love

To begin to set things straight, I clean my house
and my mind simultaneously
no status update needed