The following poetic reflections were written before and and during this retreat. May they be for the benefit of all.
Shaping Love
Deep within the black inky womb of desire
you hide in a coiled heap of tangled tentacles,
waiting to be discovered, understood,
free to swim in a sea of sensitivities
warm enough to display your meaningful symbols.
As I settle in samadhi,
curious about what you are,
what you are capable of,
energy and emotional bodies
become the dark waters
to make space
for the graceful ways you move-
an iconic vision
of loving and being loved
that has potential to bleed
into the beyonds
of other murky relationships.
12/29/24
Sangha
There is a breath of benevolence
that at sweeps through the temple
despite stormy thoughts, gales of feeling,
unstable sensations that threaten
the very foundation of trust.
Can you settle in samadhi,
sense a tincture of glittering metta
seeding the space with image?
When the season seems bleak and barren,
impregnate it with Eros,
tend to your tender heart.
May the community garden flourish
to echo and mirror the temple within.
1/1/24
Veiling and Unveiling
How can I hate you
when you are like a bird’s nest,
empty of a single cause or condition
built with a fullness of intention
for something meaningful
to grow within you.
How can I misunderstand you
when you are of the same substance
as other great minds and loving hearts,
of spacious awareness itself
not seeking to judge but discover
your fullness of intention.
May I learn to love
the shapeshifter with a name
that limits your dimensionality,
see you through a silk screen
that outlines your divinity
but fails to define its shape.
1/2/24
Sea Glass
glistening tears
your aquamarine eyes
shaped by grief
1/10/25
Devotion
bodies burning, yearning
to touch, to be consumed
to find the missing half
the consort for completion
why not be the fire
burning endlessly
for the divine
without knowing
who or what
the divine
really is
Shine a Light…”It’s You!”
Shine a light through your stained-glass heart.
Even the brokenness, the shards, the stone
cast through your sensitivities is repairable.
Your story is rich, meaningful,
a cathedral in time, a gathering
of all your particularities in service
of healing the hole in the window
to love the world beyond it.
1/11/25
Seeing Through Saffron Eyes
I am in love with all of your particularities,
the ballad you long to hear your partner
sing when the world misunderstands,
making love to all of your most intimate
places till you writhe in ecstasy
longing to please me, in total
devotion to my most worthy cause-
to mirror particularities
of the divine in others,
and heal the separation.
Humility
I am not the only one
with a song in my heart,
a poem to describe
how I metabolize this world,
a prayer for ease
and soulful connections.
Let me make space
for you, dear Sangha,
swirling dervishes on the dance floor
in praise of what you love-
fellow poets, seekers, healers
embodying your own unique stories.
Not better, not worse
not even equal to,
and so much more
than you ever imagined,
kneeling humbly at the altar
of all you are called to serve.
Waiting, eternally waiting
for a candle to be lit
by the One who knows
your temperamental heart
and still trusts you
to carry the flame.
1/12/25
Drawn to the Rhythm
outlined in souls
the stones carry their names
the heart too vast
for one beach to carry
as each stone blows
away from the collective
by ignorance, by isolation,
by death
the small heart aches
as the larger one sighs
at the human predicament
of arrogance and disconnection
the rhythm of the sea
the beat of each heart
how can one not love
the imperfect design
Walk, Dance Gently
It feels like a pebble in the forefoot,
dense, hot, throbbing, unwelcome.
Even the medical term to define it,
metatarsalgia sounds like a weapon,
an arrogant scientific explanation,
a piece of the puzzle given more significance
than the rest of the temple’s wonder.
What if I renamed you to something
softer than the impact of heavy
footsteps that gave you your name?
Metta-toe-savoring. Please forgive me
for the ways I have misnamed,
misinterpreted, misunderstood you.
You are the small, intricate bases
that support the columns
of this sacred temple, the conduit
to fertile ground that cannot
be trampled upon.
Gestation
first full moon
swollen
with our loving desires
when will she give birth?
1/13/25
Invoking Image
undress my heart
pull me apart
take me under your skin
into worlds you have been
stay close to me
for all of eternity
and if you must leave
enter me to conceive
soulful visions
metta missions
flexible convictions
being forgiven
for my ignorance
1/14/25
Winter’s Breath
so many branches
raised in prayer
teach me
how to humbly
surrender
breathing in
breathing out
in your love
I’ve Been Given to Know
I’ve been given to know
A sleek black panther
With bright yellow eyes
I’ve been given to know
A sleek black panther
With bright yellow eyes
What strikes me about him
Is the way he claws at the flesh
Tearing muscles and tendons
Breaking bone
When I am in his presence
I am reduced to a bloody heart
That is somehow still beating
Tenderly held
And no longer mine
I’ve been given to know
A sleek black panther
With bright yellow eyes
1/16/25