The first
Long
Draft
Is a
Deep
Breath
In
Attachments melt away
The mind quiets
Its obsessive
Narcissism
For a moment
Nothing else matters
But this
Single
Moment
Near enough
And still enough
To experience
The arc of the ocean
An eddy of time
Reflected
In the eddies
Of the sea
Quiescent mind
Blood rhythms
Salt air rendered
Tide pungent
Ocean whispers
Sibilant
On the shoreline
Shhhh
Shhhhhh
Shhh
Shhhhhhhhh
If nothing comes
Find a prompt
(Photographs usually work.)
Start again
Breathe
Quiet mind
Write what comes
Don’t argue with the words
It’s OK to not like what they say
Write them anyway
It’s OK to not have the right words
Write down the wrong words
The right ones can be found later
Wait or pause whenever it feels
Like the words aren’t coming… yet
Or the meaning isn’t right… yet
And the right way isn’t present… yet
Quiet mind
Breathe
Take the time
To let them come
To let them flow
When they flow
Don’t stop
Stop, when it feels OK to stop
Stop, when the words feel true
If the words feel true
They are authentic
Whether or not they seem beautiful
Whether or not they seem important
Whether or not they seem angry
Whether or not they seem loving
Whether or not they seem … whatever
This is the hard part
Whether or not they hurt a little to read
Or hurt a lot
It seems, though
Authentic words are never hurtful
Nor bitter
Nor righteous
There is no deceit in them
Nor guile
The ego is not authentic
Not all words which come
Need to be shared
Even authentic ones
Some words were only ever intended
To speak truly to a readership of one
But, consider sharing them anyway
The word could use a little more
Authenticity
Never leaving the earth
But detached from it
Gone from ground
I reach
Beyond myself
Flutter in the wind
Adrift in the sky
Lost to god
The clouds
Racing the sky
The sea
Boils and churns
And I
Quiet my mind
Be still
Become the stone
I sit by them
Gazing on the beauty
Of a dream
I Quiet my mind
Dismantling the ramparts
And enter the dream
Of wisdoms found
And wisdoms lost
Wisdoms over-written
Time-worn wisdoms
Worn out
Worn down
Worn through and through
Worn like a cloak
Like a shield
Or wielded
Like a sword
Bon mots
Of thought
Here collected
Erased
Memorized
Forgotten
Fragments of
Fragmentation
Misjudged
Misunderstood
Misapprehended
Mistaken
The nattering
Incessant
Of those
Who tell
But do not ask
Themselves
And should not
Yes
There’s the rub
Instead be
Silent
Who am I?
This wall
Has no wisdom
For me
Words
They clutter up
My consciousness
Lead me astray
Turn me away
From where I find
The one true I
Deep inside
I breathe
Let go
In quiet mind
At the core
Of silence find
The I that is not I
But All
And One
That is all
I need to know
This simple wisdom
All are One
What more is there
To ask?
Beyond them
Is a land secure from
The inadvertent effects
Of being
There
In the silent depths
I listen for the voices of insight
Beyond manifestation
Pix to Words 