Zazen
Breathing in and out
Isn’t just for the cushion;
It’s the entire thing.
If you practice just sitting,
This moment is everywhere.
Try to stop breathing,
And your attention can’t last;
You are mind and body.
Pretending at something else
Requires a lot of thinking.
Everything you do
Requires breathing in and out;
It’s all important.
So everything is sacred,
And that is also empty.
21 JUL 2024
06.27.24
The Same Breath
So many choices
in a moment’s tiny span;
is it destiny?
No matter your direction,
the path will stay beneath you.
The door is open.
You stand at a great threshold;
which way do you move?
There is just air on both sides.
Never take the same breath twice.
27 JUN 2024
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Seasoning
Time knows no season; Spring doesn’t turn to Summer in just one moment. The now is all that exists. You cannot measure its span.
Life did not begin; it is always here and now. It is infinite. Before you take the next breath, let your lungs taste it.
13 JUN 2024
06.4.24
This Moment of Now
In a moment’s span
life expands to fill the void;
a flower blooming
is a gentle breath of air:
earth and sky come together.
04 JUN 2024
03.30.17
Time Travel: katauta
What is this thing life?
Even stuck still in amber
the passage of time remains.
What use is living?
Even the largest river
remembers the breeze touching.
What is this thing life?
Keeping track of each minute
wastes yet another minute.
30 MAR 2017
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Sing the Song: georgics
First off, it always starts with breath.
That sounds so simple, but in fact
so many who would stretch their speech
against set pitches set in time
forget to breathe – at least, to breathe
as if the air were precious fuel.
Second, you must know the text.
To even blunder through, one must
engage the phrase, not word by word,
but in whole thoughts. Communication
is goal here, after all.
You’re not just throwing random sounds
out in the void; it’s what you say
as much, if not more, that saying it.
Third, it comes up from the ground:
the song comes from the toes, and then
it rises through the body.
Let it rumble all along your spine;
it gathers power as it goes.
Don’t start too high – it will get caught
and tangled up there in your throat.
Again, just breathe and let it out;
and watch it as it leaves your mouth.
You can’t look down or you will lose
the thread that ties the sound to you
and to the listener.
22 MAR 2017
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Useless Feet: englyn lleddfbroest
Our life and death for a while leave
some tiny mark on the earth,
a minute’s trace of spent breath
before we repose in death.
In that lifetime, so fleeting,
what we think we truly need
escapes from us at such speed
we cry out at useless feet.
08 MAR 2017
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