15 December 2011

Tiny Samadhi



To wind the 
prolific vomitorium of consciousness
around an invisible spindle--

the best strategy for tricking it 
      into resembling 
a cocoon. What species of worm

is digesting its own segments
there, unaided by loud light? 
      
        Better yet,
what will it look like, transformed, 
when it tears free of its 

straitjacket, a mutant Houdini 
five times larger than its size?
 
If it ever changes 
and ever breaks out, 
innocent and alert
    as it will be, 

wouldn't it be the last to know?
The patterns and colors of its 

wings at rest or in motion--
beautiful enough to deceive 

predators and suspend it
several arms-lengths above its own shadow. 







07 December 2011

Another One About Salt and Light


           I heard a story
the other day about
a Sage, some salt, a cup
of water, and a lake.
The salt was all the bitter-
ness of life. The lake
was the lesson.

What we get from the sea
will, once again, be
the sea. If we
can just let it.

I am changing.
And it does not taste good.
So be the lake,
and let it.

(When we stay so small,
it is always too much
to bear
in such an ill-
equipped vessel.)

If anyone has a flash-
light or another
story, now would be
a good time to
shine it.

What we get from what we see
will always be seen. If
our eyes are
the temple.

We don't kill our people.
Our people kill our people,
and salt is their only
weapon.

Now it is bright. We are all
changing, and it tastes
like nothing--

if we let it.

06 December 2011

.

Silence comes without instructions
and without a perfect face. 
At one time it might have been 
a relative of yours. 
People you've met on the surface
bring it with them, and where you touch
it makes you real. One day 
to know the difference
because you'll have crossed it
hundreds of times. One man
and one woman, in a room, 
with nothing to steal.

How We Are Part of It


My love, you've lit me up like a landscape.
Like where all roads meet the sky
without edge.
I've taken down the Christmas tree, and
the lights have wound 
around themselves.
All night, we are burning salt. It keeps us
warm and tired.
All night, we dream of mountains
burning from the inside.
The peak is the last to go.
All morning, we squint to keep the day out.
And to keep the ridge ash in.
Outside, the trees are fluorescent with-
out their leaves.
Everyone can see them.
Without this light, I am only smoke.
In this room, our words become us.
I've replaced all the light bulbs with
silence. My love,
you are a candle.
Like a landscape.
Everywhere, we are small.

18 November 2011

Here in the Himalayas


Am I a phantom?

           Have you seen me
here? I can sit rock still,
or I can follow
            anyone. Has
this day yet broken
open and
         shown you?

It will, but we won't always
          listen. Sometimes, we
                  swallow the song
             The trick is to stop telling
             stories and
             quit wishing.

I'll keep walking.
Take off my shoes and keep going.
Follow you, six foot seven, with
           those eyes that show
           the knowing. Very,
very high. Everywhere I pressed,
you were.

           I'd be at my temple and open
all the private places. It was interesting.
I was afraid to do anything
but just sit. Whatever this is,
           it's not nothing.

             I touched the glass,
and the glass disappeared.
Like I had finished. Every now
           and then, he twinkles
           at me.

We are getting very close,

            but the nights are long,
            and these are not
                        my stars.