108 Poems #080

Nothing seems certain
Least of all the movements of the heart
Undermined by a stomach full of doubt


[30 March 09]

Reverence

Ideas of
poems
emails
phone calls

All drop away

Switch off the lights
And stand

In awe
Reverence

With
The slender crescent
The silver moon

Potent, yet
Delicate
Luminous

Present


[29 March 09]

Alight

if only I could
light an incense stick
on the incandescent
flaming golden sunset
that sets the room
and my heart

alight

I'd have no need
for matches


[29 March 09]

108 Poems #079

The sky whitens, tinged blue
The horizon glows orange
And the landscape darkens


[29 March 09]

Locked

The morning breeze delicately
Rustles leaves on the hedge
Outside

But can't reach
My barricaded heart
Inside


[26 March 09]

108 Poems #078

In the cold grey morning
A vivid splash of daffodil yellow
Solitary, nodding in the wind


[28 March 09]

108 Poems #077

Beauty in sorrow, sorrow in beauty
A single teardrop reflects
All that can be seen and all that is not said


[27 March 09]

108 Poems #076

I see the world
Through dusty spectacles and dirty windows
Its beauty reduced to glimpses


[26 March 09]

Daybreak

The mist sits in layers over the ground
The sky starts to clear

And a whisper of the moon
Fades in the south


[17 March 09]

108 Poems #075

heartbroken, heart aching
touched by the sorrows of the world
heart open, weeping. then listening


[25 March 09]

Gone

two small flames splutter
and then cease to be

surrendering to a brilliant
shaft of morning sunshine

incense smoke swirls
spreading tendrils across the room

fragrantly embracing the morning
and then cease to be


[24 March 09]

108 Poems #074

Leg muscles screaming
Thoughts wandering
Intimacy arrives with each breath


[24 March 09]

108 Poems #073

Shadows sharpen
As the sun warms the morning
After a blustery start, tranquillity


[23 March 09]

108 Poems #072

hot from running, resting
the mind almost absent, aware
sensations flow with the view, gazing


[22 March 09]

108 Poems #071

A gentle breeze whispers
Between the vast sea of stars
And the damp grass underfoot


[21 March 09]

108 Poems #070

An imperfect lawn. Look closely
Myriad forms of life and beauty
Emerge into being from the earth


[20 March 09]

108 Poems #069

In the mist shrouded morning
Bird calls and wing beats
Echo round and back


[19 March 09]

108 Poems #068

Sitting quietly, tears rise
On a tide of gratitude and love
I miss my older brother


[18 March 09]

108 Poems #067

Cool weak sunshine
Filters through the clouds and mist
Painting white reflections on the floor


[17 March 09]

108 Poems #066

Everything calm
Unhurried, effortless
A bird glides across the sky


[16 March 09]

108 Poems #065

Spring here
The hedge fully trimmed
Blue sky floods the window


[15 March 09]

108 Poems #064

Woolly grey clouds fill the sky
Then they part
Revealing the vast brilliant blue


[14 March 09]

meeting

step by step
breath by breath

caught up in thoughts
speeding up

unentangled
slowing down

damp grass in the garden
lambs bleating in the field

hills on the misty horizon
traffic announcing itself

meeting the morning
as it comes to meet me


[13 March 09]

108 Poems #063

Walking in silence
The morning orchestra
Reaches out with its offering


[13 March 09]

108 Poems #062

Searching for words
But hitting a wall
Yesterday's worries, still here


[12 March 09]

108 Poems #061

There's nothing here, nor there
That need be spoken of
Silence has no inadequacies


[11 March 09]

108 Poems #060

Racing clouds and rolling wind
Might have been in the mind
As the blotchy grey sky lumbers on


[10 March 09]

108 Poems #059

Six green and yellow slices
Fall from the avocado half
Softly glistening and smooth


[09 March 09]

Evening Chanting

Through the cracks
And gaping wounds
Of a broken heart

Gratitude and joy
Flow openly


[08 March 09]

Homesick

Welling sadness
Incredible sadness
Skirting along the edge
Of tears and loneliness

Somehow the joy and delight
Conjured up by your words
And the vision
Of walking barefoot and
Climbing trees with gratitude

Touches something dark and unknown
An overwhelming grief
I have yet to make friends with
Or even ask it's name

Where am I?


[08 March 09]

Exercising

Above, the vast deep blue bowl of sky
To the East, the bright rising moon
To the West, the sparkling evening star
Below, the damp and shadowy ground

And through the middle,
The harsh wind whistles and howls

As I exercise these limbs
And let the mind rest a while


[08 March 09]

108 Poems #058

Moonlight slides across the floor
Climbs upon the sofa
Gets swallowed by the clouds


[08 March 09]

108 Poems #057

This head aches a little
But the hedge has lost its head!
Brutally prepared for Spring.


[07 March 09]

For Katagiri Roshi

I hear your service
Deep bows
Incense
And a tear


[06 March 09]

In response to Wild Fox Zen's Memorial Service for Katagiri Roshi whom I know through the writing of Natalie Goldberg

108 Poems #056

The crisp frosty morning emerges
In the bright sharp sunshine
Blurred weariness slowly melts away


[06 March 09]

108 Poems #055

Turning and turning
Circling and circling
Yesterday's thoughts shade the morning mind


[05 March 09]

108 Poems #054

Patterns repeat
Into the night
Until rest comes


[04 March 09]

Perfection

Sitting still awareness brightens
Accepting the perfection
Of things just as they are

And just as they are not

Discomfort and turmoil
Comes to a rest
Under a bright crescent moon


[02 March 09]

108 Poems #053

Sitting still
Through aches and pains
The morning lightens


[03 March 09]

Adjusting

Chasing this
Chasing that
Hoping, fearing
Waking, sleeping
Seeing, hearing
Cooking, cleaning
Working, resting
Eating, shitting

A mind full of
Distractions
Entanglements
Obstructions

Days full of activity
So busy going
Nowhere

Adjusting

A little to the left
A little to the right
Ah...!
The middle way

The vessel
Of daily practice
Sails onwards
Slowly, steadily, gently*

Leaving opposites
Bobbing in its wake


[20 January 09]

*Deep bow to Jisu Sunim

108 Poems #052

Against the blue sky
Circling pigeons, beating wings
Shadows race across the frost


[02 March 09]

108 Poems #051

Birds flit and skim across the garden
In the peaceful stillness
Time slips by


[01 March 09]