Tag: postaday

Poetry by Patrick JenningsMay 1, 202410:09 am

Serenity, Maligne Lake, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

The Nature of Serenity

I find serenity in nature
I discover myself in nature’s serenity

Whether paddling across a mountain lake
Ripples and clouds moved by the lightest breeze
A day like a peaceful sigh

Or standing atop an oceanside cliff
Face into the fierce onshore wind
Waves crashing against the rocks below
Rain and spray soaking my clothes

That’s the thing about nature
It has no agenda but to be
To be is a state of impermanence

Whether storm or calm
No matter
These are nought but conscious evaluations
Accompanied by prejudicial metaphors
Nature knows them
As it knows itself
Impermanence
Change

Nature does not accept change
Nature is change

As nature changes
It knows neither content
Nor discontent

I soak myself in nature
To learn its wisdom

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 30, 20247:22 am

Athabasca Falls, Athabasca River, Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park, Alberta, Canada

Finding Rainbows

As falls the water
So fall I
Into the chasm

The inevitable course
Into the tumult I tumble
Fractured until no more than mist

There in the light discover
The true nature of I
Refracting all hues of possibility

Disassembled I
Finds the path
From broken to whole

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 28, 20249:29 pm

Gambier, Bowyer, Bowen and Horseshoe Bay, Howe Sound Sunset, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada

Earth’s Deep Breath

The sky
Like Earth’s deep breath
After the sun bids adieu

And I
Becalmed on the shore
While the summer breeze
Gently lifts stray thoughts
From my mind

A sigh
Let those thoughts
Become ripples upon the Sound

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 27, 20249:40 pm

Howe Sound Sunset, Sea to Sky Highway, British Columbia, Canada

Celestial Neighbourhood

In the twilight
With the day gone by
And darkness hovers on the nigh

Celestial neighbours come out to play
Remind us of our community
In this little corner of the galaxy

And though they seem
So very, very far
Not much closer than the nearest star

When sol’s tucked in for the night
Stars and galaxies dot the skies
I see the infinity these comprise

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 26, 20246:56 pm

Yoga on the Beach

Daylight’s final embers
Twenty of us on a small patch of sand
Beside the river Ganga

Body
In harmony
With breath

Breath
In harmony
With spirit

Spirit
In harmony
With all things

Beneath this beautiful sunset
In Rishikesh
Where the river flows

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 25, 20248:32 pm

Swagger

Fierce
His swagger belies his years
His station

Dressed for school
With an armful of books
And determination

One small human
Amidst a billion more
Making his mark on one small moment

In this moment
There is no greater presence
Than a child who knows himself

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 24, 20248:20 pm

Like a Bridge Over Travelled Water, Ram Jhoola, Ganges River (Ganga), Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

Crossing Balance

I cross

Between right and left
Between green and greener
Between here and there
Between past and future
Between mind and body

Every crossing
I behold a few
Who travel the path of balance
At the fulcrum of existence

Neither right nor left but centred
Neither green nor greener, only grass
Neither here nor there but connected to all
Neither past nor future, only this moment
Both mind and body experienced from spirit

The bridge offers choices between opposites
The river flows with the possibility of all things

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 23, 202412:06 pm

Do Good / Think Good / Smile

I love this poem
Its economy of words
Its simple insight

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 21, 20247:20 pm

he Fire Burns Within, Ganga Aarti Ceremony, Parmarth Niketan Ashram, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India

Where Resides the Divine

The fire held in her hands
Burns hot and bright
But not so hot
Nor bright
As the fire in her heart
In her spirit

While those
Who participate in the rite
Focus on the ceremonial fire
To please the god, Shiva

I revel instead
In the fire and light
Of her being
Where resides the divine

Poetry by Patrick JenningsApr 20, 20247:00 am

Kites are a Universal Joy, The Ganges, Kashi (Old Varanasi), Uttar Pradesh, India

A Little Joy at Twilight

The universal joy
Of a gentle wind
A small kite
And a length of string
In a child’s hand

Both the child’s
And my own