Poetry

[haqiqu]

What's In The Temple?

In the quiet spaces of my mind a thought lies still, but ready to spring.
It begs me to open the door so it can walk about.
The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable.
The sages say nothing, but walk ahead patting their thigh calling for us to follow.
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.
The seeker seeks, just around the corner from the truth.
If she stands still it will catch up with her.
Pause with us here a while.
Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

If I say the word God, people run away.
They've been frightened--sat on 'till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can't name.
They know he's out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I can't talk about God and make any sense,
And I can't not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

I miss the old temples where you could hang out with God.
Still, we have pet pounds where you can feel love draped in warm fur,
And sense the whole tragedy of life and death.
You see there the consequences of carelessness,
And you feel there the yapping urgency of life that wants to be lived.
The only things lacking are the frankincense and myrrh.

We don't build many temples anymore.
Maybe we learned that the sacred can't be contained.
Or maybe it can't be sustained inside a building.
Buildings crumble.
It's the spirit that lives on.

If you had a temple in the secret spaces of your heart,
What would you worship there?
What would you bring to sacrifice?
What would be behind the curtain in the holy of holies?

Go there now.

~ Tom Barrett ~


(Keeping in Touch)

[alchemikey]

you are you in a very unique way
so is he and so is she and so are they

only you will make the choices you make
if love is not followed the heart will ache

never duplicated...each life is a gift
we can create sorrow or we can uplift

what do you desire? now forever asks
return to innocence and drop all masks

[Shemaya]

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.



~Thich Nhat Hanh
1989

[alchemikey]

i am here to set your heart ablaze
to guide you out of society's maze

i am here to bring you back to center
welcome to now...please do enter

i am here to shine and dance with glee
to show what it looks like to be free

i am here to bless and serve the light
to be a fire in the darkest of night

[haqiqu]

life is



life is a garden,
not a road

we enter and exit
through the same gate

wandering,
where we go matters less
than what we notice

~ Bokonon ~


(The Lost Book)

[haqiqu]

Awake awhile.

It does not have to be
Forever,
Right now.

One step upon the Sky's soft skirt
Would be enough.

Hafiz,
Awake awhile.
Just one True moment of Love
Will last for days.

Rest all your elaborate plans and tactics
For Knowing Him,
For they are all just frozen spring buds
Far,
So far from Summer's Divine Gold.

Awake, my dear.
Be kind to your sleeping heart.
Take it out into the vast fields of Light
And let it breathe.

Say,
"Love,
Give me back my wings.
Lift me,
Lift me nearer."

Say to the sun and moon,
Say to our dear Friend,

"I will take You up now, Beloved,
On that wonderful Dance You promised."

~ Hafiz ~



(I Heard God Laughing - Renderings of Hafiz -- Daniel Ladinsky)

[norral]

i really only have one wish


i really only have one wish dear brothers and sisters
and it , it is this , it is this.
that humankind should be liberated from all suffering and pain
and that we should lose, finally, our desire for profit and gain.
that when we looked at another soul we would see our mother and our brother
and that we treated one another as though we were the gentlest of lovers.
it really is that simple, its not complicated at all,
that godly love should rise up
and that the human ego should fall


norral

[haqiqu]

Fluent

I would love to live
Like a river flows,
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.

~ John O'Donohue~


(Conamara Blues)

[haqiqu]

Can You Imagine?

For example, what the trees do
not only in lightening storms
or the watery dark of a summer's night
or under the white nets of winter
but now, and now, and now - whenever
we're not looking. Surely you can't imagine
they don't dance, from the root up, wishing
to travel a little, not cramped so much as wanting
a better view, or more sun, or just as avidly
more shade - surely you can't imagine they just
stand there loving every
minute of it, the birds or the emptiness, the dark rings
of the years slowly and without a sound
thickening, and nothing different unless the wind,
and then only in its own mood, comes
to visit, surely you can't imagine
patience, and happiness, like that.

~ Mary Oliver ~


(Long Life)

[alchemikey]

my eyes seek for nothing but contact
my nose wishes to live inside of a rose
my ears amplify the eternal buzz of being
my mouth prays for harmonious resonance

my gut feels the promptings of my soul
my heart beats to synchronize with yours
my hairs reach as the edge of the universe
my mind surfs on ascending waves of silence

my toes know mother earth better than "i"
my ankles love to spin in spontaneous circles
my knees are forever bent, ready to lift you up
my hands applaud for the opportunity to serve

[norral]

medicine or poison

medicine or poison, the choice is ours
our fate lies in our hands and not in the stars.
cheerful and happy, compassionate and kind,
we are the medicine that heals human kind.
negative and selfish,
angry and mad.
we are the poison that makes people sad.
our fate lies in our hands and not in the stars,
which will we choose,
Venus or Mars

[norral]

t really is so easy to exploit and use -- a poem from the venus transit

it really is so easy to exploit and use
what i am saying it is just yesterdays news.
to take advantage and to betray anothers trust
why, in america today it really is a must.
step on , put down, disingenuous be
hey stop your complaining i am just being me
but what if instead of the front i jumped to the back of the line
if i let others step on me and said u know what that's fine
what if i didnt need to win but trusted all in god
the pathway i'd be walking on is just not often trod.
true to myself and my integrity ill be
the pathway to liberation is to set all others fee

norral

[haqiqu]

THE MOMENT

The moment when, after many years
of hard work and a long voyage
you stand in the centre of your room,
house, half-acre, square mile, island, country,
knowing at last how you got there,
and say, I own this,

is the same moment when the trees unloose
their soft arms from around you,
the birds take back their language,
the cliffs fissure and collapse,
the air moves back from you like a wave
and you can't breathe.

No, they whisper. You own nothing.
You were a visitor, time after time
climbing the hill, planting the flag, proclaiming.
We never belonged to you.
You never found us.
It was always the other way round.

-- Margaret Atwood

[haqiqu]

Put aside your clever schemes!
O lover, be mindless! Become mad!
Dive into the heart of the flame!
Become fearless! Be like a moth!
Turn away from the self
and tear down the house!

Then, come and dwell in the house of love!
Be a lover! Live with lovers!
Clean your chest from all hostility.
Wash it seven times.

Then, fill it with the wine of love!
Be a chalice for love! Be a chalice!
You must be all love
to be worthy of the beloved.

When going to the gathering of drunks,
be a drunk! Become drunk!
The earring of the lovely ones
is intimate with beauty!
If you long for love’s intimacy,
be a precious pearl. Be a pearl!

If your soul is lifted to heaven
when you hear this song,
dissolve in the melody of love.
Be a love song! Be a song!
Don’t dread the darkness of denial.
Be the radiance of creative power.
Be the light! Be a haven of the spirit!
Be a haven of light! Be a haven!

Your thought takes a course
dragging you in its wake.
Move beyond thought!
Let your heart lead! Be the leader!
Passion and caprice
are locks leashing our hearts.
Become the key to the locks!
Open your heart! Be the key!

The light of the Chosen One
made a pillar moan!
You are surely more than a post!
Yearn for love! Be the moaning!

~Rumi~

[Dekalb_Blues]

ENCANTADA

Just as flowers aflight career upwards to light,

So too leave the years upon my soul vaporish trails of firefly blazes.

Wonderful the soul's ascent!

Wonderful the mind's assent!

Blunderful though it be to the mind's eye's sight -- all is right!

All is right.

But still: strive against the night --

And fly!

-- Dekalb_Blues

[alchemikey]

i am the self that never ends

yes i go on and on my friends

i created all of this forgetting who i was

and i'll continue creating forever just because...

[haqiqu]

Keeping Quiet

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep quiet.

For once on the face of the earth
let’s not speak in any language,
let’s stop for one second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines,
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would look at his hurt hands.
Those who prepare wars
wars with gas, wars with fire
victories with no survivors
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.
Life is what it is about;
I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
of threatening ourselves with death.

Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

~Pablo Neruda~
(translated byAlastair Reid)

[haqiqu]

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're 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 whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.


~ Rumi ~


(The Essential Rumi, versions by Coleman Barks)

[haqiqu]

Still

I said I will find what is lowly
and put the roots of my identity
down there:
each day I'll wake up
and find the lowly nearby,
a handy focus and reminder,
a ready measure of my significance,
the voice by which I would be heard,
the wills, the kinds of selfishness
I could
freely adopt as my own:

but though I have looked everywhere,
I can find nothing
to give myself to:
everything is

magnificent with existence, is in
surfeit of glory:
nothing is diminished,
nothing has been diminished for me:

I said what is more lowly than the grass:
ah, underneath,
a ground-crust of dry-burnt moss:
I looked at it closely
and said this can be my habitat: but
nestling in I
found
below the brown exterior
green mechanisms beyond the intellect
awaiting resurrection in rain: so I got up

and ran saying there is nothing lowly in the universe:
I found a beggar:
he had stumps for legs: nobody was paying
him any attention: everybody went on by:
I nestled in and found his life:
there, love shook his body like a devastation:
I said
though I have looked everywhere
I can find nothing lowly
in the universe:

I whirled though transfigurations up and down,
transfigurations of size and shape and place:

at one sudden point came still,
stood in wonder:
moss, beggar, weed, tick, pine, self, magnificent
with being!

~ A. R. Ammons ~

(Collected Poems 1951-1971)

[haqiqu]

Ain't I A Woman?

Wall, chilern,
whar dar is so much racket
dar must be somethin' out o' kilter.
I tink dat 'twixt de n***** of de Souf
and de womin at de Norf,
all talkin' 'bout rights,
de white men will be in a fix pretty soon.
But what's all dis here talkin' 'bout?

Dat man ober dar say
dat womin needs to be helped into carriages,
and lifted ober ditches,
and to hab de best place everywhar.
Nobody eber halps me into carriages,
or ober mudpuddles,
or gibs me any best place!
And ar'n't I a woman?

Look at me!
Look at my arm!
I have ploughed,
and planted,
and gathered into barns,
and no man could head me!
And ar'n't I a woman?

I could work as much
and eat as much as a man --
when I could get it --
and bear de lash as well!
And ar'n't' I a woman?

I have borne thirteen chilern,
and seen 'em mos' all sold off to slavery,
and when I cried out with my mother's grief,
none but Jesus heard me!
And ar'n't I a woman?

Den dey talks 'bout dis ting in de head;
what dis dey call it?
'Intellect,'
(whispered someone near).
Dat's it, honey.
What's dat got to do wid womin's rights
or n*****'s rights?
If my cup won't hold but a pint,
and yourn holds a quart,
wouldn't ye be mean
not to let me have my little half-measure full?

Den dat little man in black dar,
he say women can't have as much rights as men,
'cause Christ wan't a woman!
Whar did your Christ come from?
Whar did your Christ come from?
From God and a woman!
Man had nothin' to do wid Him.

If de fust woman God ever made
was strong enough to turn de world upside down
all alone,
dese women togedder ought to be able to turn it back, and get it right side up again!
And now dey is asking to do it,
de men better let 'em.

Bleeged to ye for hearin' on me,
and now ole Sojourner
han't got nothin' more to say.'

Sojourner Truth

[norral]

the super rich

i am a member of the super rich

i have so much money i could fill a ditch

a hundred miles deep and a hundred miles wide

i got all this because i learned how to hide

i start the wars that your kids fight

hey it doesnt bother me , i sleep well at night

me and mine we will never ever go to war

stuff like that is only for the middle and the poor

i steal more money in a day than u will make in your life

but i need it to support my vacuous trophy wife

i care not for others its all about me

the things i hate the most are freedom and liberty

even though i have more than anyone could ever possibly spend

my lust for more just simply has no end

cut those benefits to the elderly and the young

when i see that happen , oh its just so much fun.

like i said i'm a super rich dude

i control the markets i control the crude

i want it all, want u to have none

so that when it's all over i can say i won


norral

note here i dont hate the super rich but i will honestly portray them for what they are, monsters . if they are going to act like monsters they should not be ashamed to fully display themselves as such.

[haqiqu]

Psalm 122

I rejoiced when I heard them announce,
"The time of warfare is past.
No more will brother hate brother
or violence have its way.
No more will they drown out God's silence
and shut their hearts to his song."

Pray for peace in the cities
and harmony among the races.
May peace come to live on our streets
and justice within our walls.
With all my heart I will pray
that peace comes to live among us.
For the sake of all earth's people,
I will do my utmost for peace.


(The Psalms, trans. by Stephen Mitchell)

[norral]

give me

give me all the suffering in this world

the suffering of the animal kingdom,

the suffering of the children who have been bombed and lost limbs.

i'll drink it in until im filled to the very top

and on my very next breath i'll explode and burst

into a million trillion pieces.

i've had and seen enuf, enuf suffering , enuf pain

where the hell are U god just where the hell are u

the evil prosper and the good suffer

---- yeah and that's all right .

the evil kill a million children and are rewarded with more and more

the good have a bad day and come down with cancer.

no wonder im angry who wouldnt be at the absolute unfairness

of it all

and if these words of mine are false and insincere

strike me dead right now , not scared of death

not really .


norral

[Shemaya]

and her heart broke

earth rising
in waves of sand and stone
this is the cost of
taking too long
of not changing when you had the chance
of not being better people.

is this what you think?
is this what you really think I think?

dearest ones….

my body is folding, shifting, moving and churning constantly,
as is yours.
that is the truth.

I love you endlessly
that is the truth.

now, the question becomes…
are you willing to believe the truth?
will you feel my love?
will you love me back?
will you ever love yourselves as I love you?

dearest ones….

your pain is as solid as my mountains
it does not need to be, you know.
it does not need to be…


Tracie Nichols, MA

[norral]

not for hire

did anyone get what the monks did when they set themselves on fire,

dem saying , yah yah man me not a gun for hire

u taking my country u not loving here

trying to rule by fire and fear

putting dem boots where they dont belong

well check it out and dig dis song

monks in asia

suicide bomber in iraq

dem saying the same thing to us

just get off our freaking back

go back to your own home

and leave us the hell alone


norral

[Free Spirit]

Hey guys, I've been registered for awhile but this is my first post. I've been writing poems for some time and this is probably one of my favorites. Enjoy.

Creationism

Of All that is, and all that is not
All that is sought, and all that's thought
The opposites that forever fought
Are mixed together, in this melting pot

Of all there is, there is only one
Not unlike the author, the spirit, the sun
Though we may say he has only one
We can all tabernacle with the chosen one

First there was everything, infinity, ubiquity
It reached far like the vastness of space
Till it had an epiphany
In every place, in haste we call it all
But, there is much more to enthrall

It split itself into equal parts
Making sure each one had it's heart
And said to the pieces it cast out
Know, love, create, learn
When the time comes u shall return
Some go fast, some go slow
From your wanderings, I shall know
Though in this game you might forget
This is never something you shall regret
I am you, your father, yourself, your health
The true potential, filled with wealth

Like the universe, the stars and space
By the holy one, similar in grace
I was made by a just creator
Way back in time, it's name was mother
She fought for me, she raised me up
She sent me out, to know my father
To experience, to wade in the water
With the world at my palms
And the sun at my arms
I am my own creation, truly myself
Building my fortunes, honing my talents
Till it's time to rest, on the lords sabbath

One day, I shall create my own
Universe, not music or a poem
But a child it is that I will make,
To be sent out, to create it's own tone
And when it is grown, and remembers
The lord it was once shown
I will love them dearly
Till the next beginnings woes
Forever in my heart
Yet far like a rivers flows
This I know, lord knows

[alchemikey]

when we're doing what we came to do
when the sun is shining and the sky is blue
when everyone's sharing their hearts so true
love is answering the question "who?"

cause love is who we are
that's all we need to know
when we're living from the heart
compassion is bound to grow

when we're being what we came to be
when the moon is glowing and the sky's starry
when everyone's happy and feeling free
welcome home rainbow family

cause love is who we are
that's all we need to know
when we're living from the heart
compassion is bound to grow

[alicewhite]

[quote='alchemikey' pid=

'91397' dateline='1342092812']



E = MC SQUARED PHOTON HERO



by alicewhite





Im a photon Hero ,

ive waited for a long time

i reason with myself,

and i

make no sense

make so much sense



with no sense at all

i sense with my sixth sense

all there is

WITCH is all



to live

binary

111

pyramid



triangular

kabbalah

universal so what is?,





inner truth myself

selfless all knowing





knowing all i know

all i know ,know not i

me equals

me same as we

you and i

there is no seperation

inside

whole one congregation

[/size]
cosmic stardust

combination

equation



E = MC SQUARED

ILLUMINATI

ILLUMINATION[size=medium

]

---

[/align][/size][size=large][align=center]


C is =to and 8 > than E =MC SQUARED



by alicewhite seeing one one one



CONSCIOUSNESS AND MATTER

you think just as i do

i think the same as you

thought is energetic

kinetic

now every thing is moving



scientifically proven

reaction before events

multi dimentional matter

predetermined consequence



consciouness is = to

and infinitely greater



than E = MC SQUARED

CONSCIOUSNESS CREATOR



past present and future

all co exist

no time line to speak of

instant access

global consciousness



thought as a photon

photon as a thought

all photons thought seperate

are one in which all caught



thought before matter

quantum physics

correlates

the act of us observing makes matter take shape

sounds are all frequencies and all vibrate

solfeggio harmonics

different tones

make different shapes

when we sing the new song

LOVE we create

vibrate at another level

more pure less matter

we make



all is mind over matter

and matter relates to the mind

universal mathematics equations

cosmology physics philosophy combined





sound as a frequency

sound creates shapes

shapes take form

solid matter

we make



solfeggio harmonics

universal numerate

truth found in numbers

we all co create



I THINK THEREFORE I AM =I AM he said

[haqiqu]

wow, alice! i especially like the verses about sound

[quote='alchemikey' pid=[align=center]'91397' dateline='1342092812']



E = MC SQUARED PHOTON HERO



by alicewhite

---

welcome free spirit and thanks for your excellent poem. please post more if you want.

Hey guys, I've been registered for awhile but this is my first post. I've been writing poems for some time and this is probably one of my favorites. Enjoy.

Creationism

[alchemikey]

let the mystery take a hold of you
become deep awake as you wonder what is true
the answer to the question is to be and not to be
both a separate individual and the source of unity