poetry
Tao Moments
taoist inspired poetry
unedited and unabridged
a journey through inspiring and mediocre moments of contemplation
Poetry as a spiritual practice
Writing taoist inspired poetry is a spiritual practice, rather than a creative one. Poetry which has no literary purpose bypasses the left brain, and the inner editor who judges the quality or coherency of what I write.
The Soundless Word: poems from 2002-2005
My first taoist inspired poems were written under the collective name of "The soundless word". They helped me discover and voice my very personal spirituality.
I wrote quite a lot of poems in the period 2002-2005, but most of them have no images associated with them, and some of them I posted on my blog during 2006.
For simplicity, I have posted a small sample of them as a single page.
At a later date, I will create separate pages for them.
The Dirt in the Sky: poems 2006.
When I first started blogging my poems at Blogger in 2006, I wrote the following profile for myself:
"i often say i have a spirituality of Dirt, but no-one quite understands what that means (and rightfully so). Let's just say that my spirituality is not very esoteric, it's very earthy, and when you dig your hands down into luscious, rich soil, smell the cleanness, feel the moisture, then you know how i feel about life."
So these poems represent the ordinariness of dirt tossed up as lofty ideals into the heavens.
Dawn Silence: poems 2008
Dawn is a time of new beginnings. Every day, we awake to change. The dawn holds an expectant stillness, where anything might happen.
I am hoping to create a year of breathless, expectant dawns, so I dedicate my 2008 poetry to the silence of the waking day.
staying open to love
the tao says:-
to delight in your love
to feel the heart open
to treasure every moment
every touch
every glance
every kind word
but let it go
for all things change
everyday we are different
everyday our hearts bend in the wind
feelings ebb and flow
intimacy is not something you can cling to
for it is fragile as a bird
it needs it freedom
to sing and fly
to come and go as it pleases
as it was intended
all things flow towards me
in their own time
in their own way.
to force the future
is to pull on water
or push the sky.
wasted effort
meaningless labours
unintended results.
be content with knowing
that all things work out as they should
all things that will happen
will happen.
patience
acceptance
openness
trust
and all will unfold
as it was intended
Untitled (dawn silence)
This is the second year I've started the year in retreat. It's been a hectic, intense year for me, and a huge struggle to stay on my path, or to even figure out what my path was among the enormous array of opportunities that arrived in my doorstep during 2007.
So having essentially not stopped all year, it took me until the fourth day of my retreat to finally find my centre, and reconnect with my deep knowing of my path.
My first poem of the year put me back on the path. I have called it Dawn Silence in honour of the year ahead.
standing still
Standing still
or going
are the same if you are still within.
Stopping or hastening onwards
are the same if you are hastening within
quiet the mind and soothe the soul
and enter the tranquil place
at the centre of yourself
at the heart of the still lake within
relax
breathe
sink
and become re-united with yourself
become submerged
in the unity and oneness that is within and without
turbulence
Roiling waters
bubble over rocks
turbulence
flows over
leaving you untouched
When we are swept up
like a leaf on the surface
when we are tossed this way and that
we find no purchase
we scrabble for grounding
When we remember
we are not the river
but the stones
change flows over us
but we are always changing
Unchanged
we are calm in the storm
certain in uncertainty
no path
The uncertainty of no path
is the field of fresh snow
every step, in every direction
is the same
is equal
Every moment we choose a new step
an new direction
on the pathless path
To let go of expectation
to step every moment
with awareness and choice
in this no place
a choice
to live our truths
and walk the pathless path
Here is the destination
this place of no path