Meditation

“Meditative Bliss” by Vijay Sharon Govender

move to the quiet
the tranquil state
sought at the center
umbilical peace
altered consciousness
closed to the grief
life imposes upon
the corporeal mind
seal the spirit
in womb-skin of
eastern or western
tradition to reach
indestructible
sense of wellbeing
take care to choose
one or the other
for mixing the gods
blending Hindu and
Christian experience
relegates one to the
dubious influence
peddled by rank
New Age mystics

 

 

From my book Ephemera

Totem

“Totem Walk” by Emily Carr

ancestral angels

administer secretly

animist sacraments

pointing out paths

of safe passage

through ritual

hewn iconography

boldly inscribes

old growth timber

staid canvas to render

stark creatures of

natural affinity

open-eyed spirit-guides

give of their tutelage

mystical descants

morality tales convey

wisdom that whispers

with linear memory

granting permission

for transit of time

across thresholds

of forest and future

permission who

cries to keep faith

with tradition

indigenous values

ennobling descendants

of kith kin and clan

tribal citizens worthy

of mother earth’s gifts

and possessed with the

mettle of warrior kings

“Gitwinkool Totem Poles” by Emily Carr

 

Starshine

“Night Sky” by Nikol Wikman

impressing the stars
such ridiculous folly
the light in their eyes
is so achingly old
they won’t see you
for millions of years
and by then
they’ll have watched
birth and death of
uncountable splendidly
interesting worlds
do you think the brief
speck of a spark
that was you
will have mattered at all

if you do
then I’ll make you
a place in my heart
where I keep a conviction
that every life
matters a lot
more than starshine
can ever record
or will likely remember

(originally posted December 2013)

Old Souls

“Series Infinity” by Irfan Mirza

 

that old man
was the man
who was me
long before
I was born
spent his youth
as my son
till he grew
to become
my own father

wisdom chased
across arcs
around loops
by fleet folly
faith and
knowledge
bended back
on themselves
giving life and
death sacred
dimensions
of circles
and time
the atomic
momentum
of wheels
turning turning
returning with
infinite speed

(originally posted January 2014)

Listening Eastward

Atman Symbol OM

 
will you read to me
from Upanishads
of the brahman and atman
the soundless peace
resounding in aum

bring me god
back inside my self
where knowing us both
becomes possible

read me cosmologies of spirit
the universe senses of all
read me psychologies of we selves
the immortal senses of me
read me theologies of deity
the powerful senses of one

will you read to me
from Upanishads
of vedanta and gita
the noisy destruction
of ignorant thought

bring me god
back inside my self
revealing that all
exists in my hand

Regression

Image by ohpopsi

 

there are days I’m too old for the world

when it outspins the pace of my stride

and I find that my forward moves backward

living more in the past than the present

perceiving my future as memories

of days when I ran and will run yet again

at the speed of the racing equator

when values I held and will hold yet again

made ethical guideposts reliable

Petrichor

“Petrichor”
Photo by Amy Pond
From tardis.wikia.com

comes a drizzle in drought
eager hearts sniff the air
pungent promises slicken
brick walkways but not
enough rain for a surefooted
cleansing each raindrop
a bomblet exploding small
dust clouds that rise to the
nose printing ever more
frustrating memories onto
the mind filled already with
too many aspects of thirst
disappointment the natural
state formed by sieging sere
spiritual dry spells who
wither and desiccate dreams