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Archive for July, 2012

Dream, Dreamer, Dreaming.

The Master’s Garuda boat
Untouched by the turbulence
Of the rocked earth.

The long, deep lake shudders,
Sweeping away the lost
Into other worlds.

Winding avenues of rock
Rising from the shore,
Steps, tunnels, pathways.
The clustered, caved homes of disciples,
Comfortable, apart, sedate.

Shrines of Herukas,
Whispered shadows.
The First Seventy dissolving, dissipating.
Shallow basins and channels guiding
The flow of gore,
The seepage, the transformation
From flesh to food
For the invisible ones.

On carved, curved walls
The lives recorded,
The passage through hell-worlds,
The First Seventy Disciples return
To dissolve in mantra –
Butter lamps floating
On red globules of spent life
Drifting into sinuous darknesses.

Keeping watch, the New.
Taking turns as long as can be withstood,
In the presence of final collapse.

A chance to overcome despair:
To witness the passage of the Elements
Untouched,
To dance clear of the smoke,
The flame of laughter
Fanned
By True Emptiness.

The horror of Reality –
A flower of great beauty,
But no one name.

On the roaring edge,
The Master asks a simple question.

The Sublime awaits.

There is no answer.

———-

(Imagery from a dream last night, satisfyingly Jungian, dark, bright, strange. A mountain lake, an earth tremor sinking boats, a large prowed boat rides the wave, safe. The main story, a Master with disciples living in the steep rock-cut lakeside mountains. The return of the First Seventy Disciples, old men coming back to their Master to die together. The New disciples, set the task to be continually present during the dissolution of the bodies, encaverned, aware, candle light in small shrines. Hard to bear the horror and glory of the implacable transformation, taking turns, Master watching on, silent, slight smile, compassionate, unforgiving. One opportunity, every opportunity, to break through, to break out……)

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( the diving, swimming, flying man is from an Iron Age Celtic coin of the Bellovaci tribe)

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I

We are adrift in sunshine and birdsong.

The green fields turning golden hay.

Grandchildren like chirping sparrows.

Fresh breeze from the hills.

Nothing to report,
Lost in time and space……

II

Basho by the pond.

Pausing,
He turns to listen:
The sound
Of one hand
Clapping.

(Some more words scribbled down from my diary. It’s been a busy summer. Just recently missed a great flurry of strong words. It’s so important to write when those times arise, as the fuel that fires the flow is soon consumed..)

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One moment here,
Or here,
An instant’s presence,
Or, maybe, fever.

Not choosing,
Nor discarding,
An equipoise of breath.

This moment,
Or this,
Weighed,
Released.

A point,
(Time or space),
Within which to expand,
Relax.

A skill,
Or no skill,
To continue
Regardless.

Existence,
Or non-existence,
Tasting the same-
A sharp flow.

Words
Or no words,
Insignificant attainment
Of the one song.

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Solstice: words revolve a standing sun.

I

On Momentous Occassions.

Not to be missed.
A once-in-a-lifetime experience!
This breath.

II

The Pleasurable Joy of Insignificance.

A seed on the breeze
Safe floating
Away from reach.

So small
In the hands
Of the world.

So safe
Amongst the cloak
of stars.

So small
So safe
No threat.

Floating free
Insignificant joy
Sparkle of bliss.

III

Two weeks of rain.
Finally, the moon!
An embarrassed smile.

IV

Hemlock and mallow.
The dead revived,
Stretch thick green limbs.

Cat’s ear and wild privet.
The living exhale
To fuel the world.

Yarrow and blood poppy.
The skylark’s song:
Blue and vast.

The apple, the cherry,
Yet small and hard,
Dreaming of sweetness.

Elder, oh elder!
A circumference of passion,
Honey cream and pensive.

The thick warm air
Slow, turning.
The world wants not,
Waits not,
Curls and moves:
A sleeping cat.

V

When I look into your eyes,
Moon of Guru Purnima:
Silver ripples across my heart.

VI

Steady rain.
No moon tonight,
Except the disc
Upon which you dance,
Goddess of Wisdom.

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My mind is clouds
Shades of grey
Shades of light
Pellucid smoke
Moving to a breeze of birdsong
A dream of seafoam
A warmth
A honeyed breath.

Discard perfection
Disregard the starch ,
The po-faced judgement
Of those who weigh
Degrees of holiness,
Degrees of failure,

The world is
What the world is.
This river,
Not the water,
Not the valley,
Not the sound
Not the blackbird’s cool….

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Sunday Morning. No blue Sky. Some clouds reflect.

I

Haiku True Nature:
Not just a sentence broken
Into smaller lines.

II

Haiku takes a walk:
A garden path inviting
Unexpected view.

III

Tracing thought patterns:
The bright weave of consciousness
Belonging nowhere.

IV

Intellect, a fool:
Lost in a dream of stories,
Suddenly wakened!

——-

In my mail this morning a haiku post from fivereflections appeared as a single line of text ( as they always do). It set off a little line of thought. ( hmmph! ‘Taking a line for a walk’ Paul Klee…). Also fired by a lovely jewel of a piece by skyraftwanderer….

Punctuation, plurals, tenses,
line breaks –
all nuances difficult to translate.
The gestures of the ancient calligrapher:
an ink-blot attains sentience….

Wang Wei and me,
Gone fishing
For ephemeral beauty
Down by the slow river,
The boiling tea kettle
Forgotten…

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