Categories
Dreams Poetry

Mere Imputation

The space in here
       it is not clear
though she says
       it’s clarity

My mind is fog
       for this is wrong
though she says
       it’s sanity

I hear a siren’s call
       – or a fire alarm?
as she sings
       it’s raining men

If she’s a storm
       I wish to be her wind
though she says
       such wish is sin

If I fall in
       I know I’m fucked
though she jokes
       you’re just a crook

It’s just a test
       as she laughs at me
now she says
       suffering need not be

If happiness is mind
       I generate it from within
now she sings
       the world is yours to win

Oh! Elusive happy mind!
       on what do you depend?
now she jokes
       it’s in your head!

The space in here
       it is not clear
though she says
       it’s clarity

My mind is fog
       for this is wrong
now she begs
       oh just kiss me!

Categories
Good Fortune Poetry

Ordinary Existence

I hate this lifetime
                 she says

With all the instructions
         and all the conditions?
Why?
        How could you hate such fortune?

Because all the people
            I have ever known,
                            ever loved
                in all my lives
           have forgotten me

Not only
          do they not remember
our love, shared,     our words
                        our bonds …
they are all sick, wounded, dying
this vision becomes a nightmare
   threatens lives I care about
      makes me hate my own
and then I see
        I am the maker and destroyer
but never more a life-enjoyer
       — at least not this life anyway
this one with pain that’s here to stay
   because that is samsara’s way
      first it gives and then it takes
breath, floods, fires, earthquakes,
      fortune, time, fame, mistakes, and
breath

It all comes rushing in and then
                                    it goes

Absent is the gentle flow,
                        of another life
                  one in which I failed
          one where I succumbed to strife
          for otherwise this appearance
                        wouldn’t be
                             (couldn’t be)

So which delusion can I blame
   for producing this life, this name
I happily give up for happiness
   a wisdom realizing emptiness
                  I’m tired of grief’s game
        set me free!

While with wisdom, I reflect,
   I find… I hate this lifetime
                                all the same
           but despite its constant pain
             not a moment spent in vain

I will escape

Categories
Buddhism Poetry

Part of it all: III

(continued from)

<3>

I sit apart
    yearning
        misunderstanding
            my separateness
                  does not exist

    and still
          it is effortful
                to fight such suffering
          deceitful maras
    mistaken minds

I am but a drop
          at my heart
                      at the heart of all hearts
          inseparable, pure
    with the Dharma cure

            to be a part of it all
                    happily

Categories
Buddhism Dreams Poetry

osprey

      I see     
              an osprey kick a gull in the head
        & catch a fish
                          this morning

                         emerge            compassion
                  for   attachment
                              killing
                      though   thought  rare sight
                                —  such common poison!

emptiness
          a play of light
                        arises before me
                                  due to mind

it’s only mind

      I must endure
                just one more day  —
    time to love & time to play 

      I must endure     this suffering
              for I have caused it
                    that I see

       these imprints strong
                self-grasping   me

       like clouds appear
              in a summer sky
      seeming so blue
                          in my sense’s eye
        and clouds so white
              appear to dance
              changing shape
              and circumstance
        with one another
                scenes create
        a turkey vulture roosts
                while whales tempt fate
                to swim so high
                        up in the sky
                    it almost makes me
                                  question why
                    I feel that I can wait
                        to truly escape
                this earthly suffering
                finding no one here
        who is happier than me

                finding no couple who’s truly at peace
            seeing no being that moves with ease

           observing not one who can work together
        without hatred, attachment, greed

     should I give up?     — No!

                 I’ll change my aspiration instead

I aspire to be truly happy, a    pure   example

     & although I wish for another by my side
        one who would face the changing tide,
                      I know in another I cannot seek
                any joy or peace to be —
                            for it all must come from me

     & although I strive to give & give
                      in humanness, I can’t let go
        of my own unfulfilled hunny-do list —
            this deluded partner, lazy, low —
            by whose esteem I now accomplish
            many of my deeds  — instead of
                saving for me,   a pure aspiration
            —  enlightenment for all,   equally

     & although a man in measure
    may grant me earthly pleasure
            there’s not a time I can recall
      unmixed with poison from the fall

      an apple sweet, an apple tart
            both eventually rot & fall apart
            never singular, & still
              each wish we’d like it to fulfill

      the flavourful & wellness start
      healthy gut, balanced,    body art

this world is crazy, bizarre, insane —
                & if I believe I can lay the blame
                                with anyone else,
                      I’ve already failed

so instead I vow to see, in each & every irony
    a new teaching, a blessing,       gift
        in each disturbance,     every rift

a chance to see things appear to fall apart
                    never once one thing
                                      except in name
          and with delusions I lay all blame

self-cherishing, self-grasped —
                              in dependence, same

I am so tired of samsara’s games
                              I quit

on to Enlightenment, charging forth
                      with Dharma’s wealth

   I’m collecting merit for good health 

for long, long years in which to help
              all beings do the same

   to happiness, I now lay claim

watching the gulls upon the bend
          leaves me with these words to send
                                                        to you

thank you for your time,
          and love,    and coming to this place
        may your mind be ever blessed
                        with peace & happiness
                               

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

determination

I am only a witness,
        transparent eye
a non judgemental mirror —
          or at least a mirror who keeps
          her judgments to herself

I am the nursery rhyme before it’s written,
        the angel before the fall
        the dream before the nightmare
        the ring before the call

I hear the future coming,
          still feel the distant past,
  see outcomes from our actions
              that for years & years will last

I weep for sad beginnings
            I laugh at mad hellos
  see insanity all around us
        and suffering only grow

I am ready to escape this
        ready to depart
        ejecting all attachment
        burning all my art

I have not one creation
          of which I am proud
  except those that come from virtue,
              those soundless,
              those I’ve vowed

I sow these seeds in silence
          for my words have caused much pain
          all contaminated actions
               seemingly in vain
          (* focus on intention *)

I hear the whistle blow,
          a hundred miles from home
  smell the fields of mountain thyme
            growing round the purple heather
  and still cannot decide
                if to stay or go

                        until I walk the streets
                see the suffering
                hear the cries
                smell the stink
                feel the terror
                taste the drink

then it all comes rushing back,
          each and every pleasure,
                    that I’ve had it all before
      —     it’s time to think!
                   I cannot do this anymore!
I won’t!

So with reliance, offering, requesting,
            my life I do lay down
                  only for something better
            more meaningful, profound

      with diligent, stable practice
              (which, finally, I’ve found)
              and compassionate, loving heart
              I fall upon the Bodhisattva’s ground

I bow before the new moon,
          and rising with the sun
  try to take things lightly,
  because all is mind and none is one

Categories
Buddhism Good Fortune Poetry

once free

Do you know what it is
to be without

fear, sorrow,
deluded doubt?

Do you know what it is
to be truly free

from anger, hatred,
and misery?

Do you know what it is
to go within

where all is pure,
without sin?

Do you know what it is
to exist in peace

where all causes for unhappiness
have ceased?

Do you know what it is
to know your mind

limitless potential,
joyful, kind?

I have finally found
such instructions pure
as my name imputed,
an unmistaken cure

now to follow
this joyful path
it alone is happy,
clear, unmatched

who will join me?
may it be all
with equanimity, love,
we shall heed the call

and finally discover
Enlightenment unbound
dreamlike true existence,
once unknown, now found

Categories
Buddhism Dreams Philosophy Poetry

the speed of love

in grade six,
     we were asked to
                define love

I plagiarized Chicken Soup for the Soul
           after we were force-fed its trite passages
           (so it seemed to me – I hated it)
     strong past life imprints
             tearing present apart
     of course I got caught
I lacked the language
     the metaphors
                 – the red, red roses –
                 I knew I did
     how could my eleven define love?

only years later,
     the unchanging definition was given to me
only years later,
     a pure example, to be echoed
absorbed into my roots
                          my Guru
          – how shall I mind to be
               an echo of utter purity? –
          so now love is my wish for all others,
                                                    for you
                   to be happy
                     effortlessly & evermore
                                         & quickly

Categories
Buddhism Philosophy Poetry

the space between

I look up to see
the space between
the spring’s bright leaves,
framing failing light

the eve’s chill falls
as the day’s warmth lifts
dew dances on the lawn
while my brook babbles on

as of late, my words betray
what my mind creates –
for with incorrect name
my suffering’s made

beneath me now
the earth is cold,
this rock is hard,
I’m feeling old

so many lifetimes,
all the same
wasted, wasted
all in vain —

now depend on heart-filled meaning,
mindfulness, do practice, pray
the power of delusions, cease!
and all bad habits, slay!

anew my happiness is born
here and now today
and with constant prayer & blessing
will never pass away

how lucky are these eyes
to behold periwinkle skies
how lucky are these toes
that walk where wild grows
how lucky are these hands
that touch the living earth
how lucky is the mind
appearing Bodhichitta birth

how lucky to be giving
to create the cause of wealth
how lucky I may nurture
to create the cause of health
how lucky to be kind
that I may create the cause of peace
how lucky to hold compassion
so all hatred, anger cease
how lucky to be patient
and know beauty will ensue
how lucky to be loving
and again feel love so true

Categories
Poetry

clearwing

not good enough?
       you little moth
               drawn to my flame
fearing I’ll burn your wings

but I am not fire (your past)
        I am air (your future)
               a Tara,
                           wind element

you choose disbelief
       to break hearts, cause tears
& still, you deserve such clarity of mind,
       divine,

you little moth

you’re enough

Categories
Poetry

A fickle thing

I started to lose interest
where it began, I cannot tell –
was it diseases of delusions?
   or the medications as well?

Aversion to sugar
I dislike that sweet —
  but a little too tart?
         sours my treat

A dash of salt
  is too salty still
     when I want a
                     silly snack

Creamy vanilla
    or buttered plain
        are two with simple
                               lack

Yet mocha dark
       or caramel glazed
              are off my beaten
                                path

So what is it I fancy?
      what is it I crave?
  and what will satisfy me?
  or quick become depraved?

For once a pleasure rises
    a pleasure, she must fall
    and he who sympathizes with
                                attachment
       is he who loses all

For grasping at an object,
impermanent, illusion best
is ignorance, the birthplace
of delusions, all the rest

So what will satisfy me
     external to my mind?
Nothing nothing no   thing
         for all that is
         is named,   is mind