Poetry

[haqiqu]

I have a deep interest in spiritual poetry. I moderate a small poetry group from my email that has just a few members, but the poems travel far. I would like to post some of them here from time to time and invite others to share favorite spiritual, or higher consciousness poetry, too.

This is one I particularly like:

The Reed Flute

Listen to the story told by the reed,
of being separate.

"Since I was cut from the reedbed,
I have made this crying sound.

Anyone separated from someone he loves
understands what I say.

Anyone pulled from a source
longs to go back.

At any gathering I am there, mingling
in the laughing and the grieving,

a friend to each, but few
will hear the secrets hidden

within the notes. No ears for that.
Body flowing out of spirit,

spirit up from body. We can't conceal
that mixing, but it's not given us

to see the soul." The reed flute
is fire, not wind. Be nothing.

Hear the love-fire tangled
in the reed notes, as bewilderment

melts into wine. The reed is a friend
to all who want the fabric

torn and drawn away. The reed is
hurt and salve combining.

Intimacy and longing for
intimacy in one song.

A disastrous surrender,
and a fine love, together.

The one who secretly hears this
is senseless.

A tongue has one customer,
the ear.

The power of a cane flute comes
from its making sugar in the reedbed.

Whatever sound is has
is for everyone.

Days full of wanting, let them go by
without worrying that they do.

Stay where you are, inside
such a pure, hollow note.

~Rumi~
The Hand of Poetry: Five Mystic Poets of Persia

[Brittany]

Wow, that is truly beautiful. The words in themselves don't seem to mean much, but their arrangement is combined into such a strong flow of emotion. It's like the words are merely a vessel for something much deeper and more meaningful. Awesome.

[haqiqu]

Thanks, ahktu. I'm glad you like it. Rumi is one of my favorites. Please post some favorites of yours, I would like to see what others here like in poetry. :->

[Brittany]

I have a few poems posted myself on this section of the forum, if you want to check them out.

A lot of the poetry I like displays the shadow side of humanity...aka it is really depressing, and yet bleeding out the pain into verse seems to heal the wounds within both reader and writer. One of my favorites is called "The Hollow Men", but I can't recall who it's by right now.

---

Ah, here we are. It's by T.S. Elliot. It's an extremely long poem, so I'll only post a small part:

Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow


Life is very long

Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow

For Thine is the Kingdom

[haqiqu]

ahhh, yes. I do like that one - bleeding out the pain/letting the negative flow away - it's an ongoing process we must endure. I like poetry that can create rich visuals with few words. I'll check out your poetry thread.

light, love and much laughter to ya!

[alchemikey]

it always comes back
to the question of "who?"

whoever consciousness is
all of us are that being too

intricately connected
by the strongest of glue

an ocean of infinite potential
from which wave patterns grew

all waves eventually drown
cheer up...no need to frown

a return to the infinite ocean
is a return to the cosmic clown

fractals forever in a laughter loop
We are in this together...one group

we are the ocean...we are the waves
all that is emanates from our heart caves

peace...mikey

---

Love is the energy
of your attention

So do pay it well
And watch love swell

Before you know it
Your heart will encompass
the universe humongous

Wholeness restored
Nothing ignored
No duality, no sword

Blessings all about
No reason to pout
Just breathe: in...out

Between the silence
and the noise
unlimited joys

if you hear
what i am saying

many players
one self playing

peace,
mikey

[Aaron]

I always love your poetry, Mikey. It's so deep and yet at the same time, playful.

[haqiqu]

Beautiful poems, mikey. They make me smile :-> Would you mind if I forwarded some of them on to my email poetry group?

lots of love, light and laughter to ya!

---

Another nice one from Rumi:

We have fallen into the place
where everything is music.

The strumming and flute notes
rise into the atmosphere,
and even if the whole world’s harp
should burn up, there will still be
hidden instruments playing

So the candle flickers and goes out.
We have a piece of flint, and a spark.

This singing-art is sea foam.
The graceful movements come from a pearl
somewhere on the ocean floor.

Poems reach up like the edge of driftwood
along the beach, wanting and wanting!

They derive
from a slow and powerful root
that we can’t see.

Stop the words now.
Open the window in the center of your chest,
and let the spirits fly in and out.


Rumi

[Brittany]

Here's one I came up with today.

A path in the sand

Made by dry scales,
ever flowing sideways.
The serpent ambles on,
sure in his path,
precarious as it may be.
He tastes God in the air.

Here I am
on clumsy legs,
tripping on weeds,
following a blind premonition.
Could I join you,
my brother,
on my belly,
and be closer to Mother?

If I could just
shed this skin,
and move so purposefully
forward, unafraid…
You transform yourself
So easily.
Could I borrow
your steadfast ways
for a day?

Lie me down
in the cool sand.
Let me see the world
through your eyes,
dimmed to all the loud,
bothersome trivialities
of the surface,
but ever intuned
with what lies within.

Let me be a serpent for today,
and tomorrow I transform
and grow wings.

[haqiqu]

That's a good one. Thanks ahktu. I like the imagery, it makes me think of "today we crawl, tomorrow we fly so enjoy the journey". I like the visuals of the point of view of a snake.

:->

[Brittany]

What can I say? I loooooove snakes!

[haqiqu]

What can I say? I loooooove snakes!

I have a healthy respect for snakes. I don't dislike them, but I give them lots of space.

---

Rumi seems to be trying to get my attention . . . his poems keep coming to me

THE GUEST HOUSE

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-- Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

[haqiqu]

a wandering journey . . .

Getting There

You take a final step and, look, suddenly
You're there. You've arrived
At the one place all your drudgery was aimed for:
This common ground
Where you stretch out, pressing your cheek to sandstone.

What did you want
To be? You'll remember soon. You feel like tinder
Under a burning glass,
A luminous point of change. The sky is pulsing
Against the cracked horizon,
Holding it firm till the arrival of stars
In time with your heartbeats.
Like wind etching rock, you've made a lasting impression
On the self you were
By having come all this way through all this welter
Under your own power,
Though your traces on a map would make an unpromising
Meandering lifeline.

What have you learned so far? You'll find out later,
Telling it haltingly
Like a dream, that lost traveler's dream
Under the last hill
Where through the night you'll take your time out of mind
To unburden yourself
Of elements along elementary paths
By the break of morning.

You've earned this worn-down, hard, incredible sight
Called Here and Now.
Now, what you make of it means everything,
Means starting over:
The life in your hands is neither here nor there
But getting there,
So you're standing again and breathing, beginning another
Journey without regret
Forever, being your own unpeaceable kingdom,
The end of endings.


~ David Wagoner ~

(In Broken Country)

Web version: www.panhala.net/Archive/Getting_There.html

[solitary]

This isn't exactly poetry, more of a tasty thought morsel, but it seems to fit here, and I would like to share. It comes from the Jewish side of mysticism, which is my grounding point and personal gyroscope, so I hope no one is offended by the use of the masculine pronoun. Reference to the Creator is usually written or spoken by the term Hashem, which translates literally as The Name, and is not gender specific.

Hiding Destiny
==============

How did He make a world?

First, He thought to Himself, "I desire light. I desire love. I desire acts of kindness and beauty." And He saw that this was good.

Then, He made Himself forget that entire vision, blocked it from His mind, so to speak, as though it never was. And He made a world. As though that was the whole point, a world for the sake of being a world.

Only much later did He whisper in someone's ear, "Do you know the real purpose for which I made this world?"

Now you know why reality is hard and love is soft,
apathy flows with ease while kindness must climb mountains,
why light is always the intruder upon the boundless empire of darkness.

Yet, in the end, light is the hidden destiny of all that is.

[haqiqu]

I had to read this one a couple of times, but I finally got it through my thick head. I appreciate the way the sages give us eloquent clues and paradoxes so we can mull things over and decide for ourselves. Yep. I get it . . . :->

[haqiqu]

Laughing at the Word Two

Only

The Illumined
One

Who keeps
Seducing the formless into form

Had the charm to win my
Heart.

Only a Perfect One

Who is always
Laughing at the word
Two

Can make you know

Of

Love.

~Hafiz~
translated by Daniel Ladinsky

[alchemikey]

hey brothers...hey sisters
now what do you say?

follow your heart
it knows the way

come sing...come dance...come play
come have a wonderful, glorious day

hey sunshine...hey blue sky
thank you for the sight

beauty revealed
by your pure light

how do you shine so bright?
you give out happiness even at night

i love you...i love all
so let's have a ball

when you hear a whisper
take heed to the call

the rest...the rise...the fall
before you were walking...you did a crawl

hey christs...hey buddhas
archangels above

teachers of wisdom
turn the cheek...don't shove

at peace just like a dove
all of this life is a story of love

peace,
mikey

[fairyfarmgirl]

Thank you, Mikey. I really enjoyed reading and etherically hearing your voice. Thank you.

fairyfarmgirl

[Ashim]

Beautiful words my friend. Good luck with Serpentina. We wish you all the best on your voyage.

Love & Light

[haqiqu]

Thanks, Mikey for sharing this lovely poem.

:->

[haqiqu]

MIRACLE FAIR

The commonplace miracle:
that so many common miracles take place.

The usual miracles:
invisible dogs barking
in the dead of night.

One of many miracles:
a small and airy cloud
is able to upstage the massive moon.

Several miracles in one:
an alder is reflected in the water
and is reversed from left to right
and grows from crown to root
and never hits bottom
though the water isn't deep.

A run-of-the-mill miracle:
winds mild to moderate
turning gusty in storms.

A miracle in the first place:
cows will be cows.

Next but not least:
just this cherry orchard
from just this cherry pit.

A miracle minus top hat and tails:
fluttering white doves.

A miracle (what else can you call it):
the sun rose today at three fourteen a.m.
and will set tonight at one past eight.

A miracle that's lost on us:
the hand actually has fewer than six fingers
but still it's got more than four.

A miracle, just take a look around:
the inescapable earth.

An extra miracle, extra and ordinary:
the unthinkable
can be thought.


~ Wislawa Szymborska ~



(View With a Grain of Sand, translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh)

[alchemikey]

from this day forward
i will only move toward
the truth...the love...the light

a life of sobriety
aware all is deity
lucid...happy...and free

never again...
will i forsake my will

never again...
will i choose a quick thrill

from this moment forth
i have reset my course
to follow...my heart...always

no need to give in
to the rest of my kin
i am that...i am... will do

never again...
will i drop down so low

never again...
will i go against what i know

peace,
mikey

[haqiqu]

Thanks, Mikey. I feel the strength in this one.

:->

[haqiqu]

Beannacht
("Blessing")

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.


~ John O'Donohue ~

(Echoes of Memory)

[kensanwa]

Here's one that I found interesting:

Not what you have, but what you use;
Not what you see, but what you choose;
Not what seems fair, but what is true;
Not what you dream, but what you do;
Not what you take, but what you give;
Not as you pray, but as you live;
These are the things that mar or bless,
the sum of human happiness.
-Author unknown

Be well,
Kensanwa

[haqiqu]

Here's one that I found interesting:

Not what you have, but what you use;
Not what you see, but what you choose;
Not what seems fair, but what is true;
Not what you dream, but what you do;
Not what you take, but what you give;
Not as you pray, but as you live;
These are the things that mar or bless,
the sum of human happiness.
-Author unknown

Be well,
Kensanwa

Kensanwa, Thanks for this poem. It's easy rhythm and rhyme go great with the great truths it expresses. At least, that's why it appeals to me.

---

Here is one from an early wanderer. Walt Whitman was ahead of his time.


This is what you should do

This is what you should do:
Love the earth and sun and animals,
despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people...
reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,
dismiss what insults your very soul,
and your flesh shall become a great poem.

~ Walt Whitman ~

(Excert from Preface to 1855 edition, Leaves of Grass)

[alchemikey]

What is love?
but a ceaseless flow

What is love?
but the desire to grow

What is love?
but a feeling so deep

What is love?
but the tears you weep

What is love?
but a timeless mirror

What is love?
but the answer to fear

What is love?
but a humbling wow

What is love?
but the here and now

peace,
mikey

[haqiqu]

I really "love" this one, mikey :->

[alchemikey]

thanks

might as well keep going with it:

What is love?
but a warming heart

What is love?
but the end and start

What is love?
but a freedom of will

What is love?
but the silent and still

What is love?
but a thought so vast

What is love?
but the joy you cast

What is love?
but an aware soul

What is love?
but the cosmos whole

What is love?
but a shining star

What is love?
but who you really are

peace,
mikey

[haqiqu]

Perfect second part, mikey! I especially like the last couplet, that one really sums love up.

:->