Category Archives: Poetry

Poetry

Life, Impermanence and Suffering

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Samsara 

We delude ourselves

Into thinking…

 

That things are stable

That things are permanent

That we are loved

That someone is there for us

That there is a lasting source

Of happiness in this world

 

Its easy to see why

Because this is comforting

Despite being untrue

We seem to need

These illusions

To go on with our lives

To feel like we are embraced

 

Life, however

Is here to show us

That everything is imbalanced

Nothing is permanent

We are not as loved as we think

In the end, no-one

Is really there for us

 

Everything is fleeting

Everyone and everything goes its own way

People use one another

They get what they want

Then they move on

 

Even physical presence

Does not entail a true connection

As the celestial wheel turns

People grow apart

In ways that even distance

Cannot accomplish

 

To think of this

Brings about sadness

Brings about suffering

Its not what we want

It is somewhat terrifying

 

We want something real

We want something true

We want something profound

We want something lasting

 

We want a life that matters

We want to sing

From the depths of our souls

We want to embrace our loved ones

We want to know that they will alway be there for us

 

Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic

But I believe

That it is possible

The question is just

How it is possible

That’s the great mystery

That we are here to uncover

Poetry

Love is Not

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image

By Marcus  Argentarius (20bc-30ad)
Translated by Fleur Adcock

“Love is not just a function of the eyes.
Beautiful objects will, of course, inspire
Possessive urges – you need not despise
Your taste. But when insatiable desire
Inflames you for a girl who’s out of fashion,
Lacking in glamour – plain, in fact – that fire
Is genuine; that’s the authentic passion.
Beauty,though, any critic can admire.”

Poetry, Taoism

Lao Tzu on Continuity

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“Looked at but cannot be seen – it is beyond form;
Listened to but cannot be heard – it is beyond sound;
Grasped at but cannot be touched – it is beyond reach;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.

In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what can not exist,
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name mystery,
Meet it, it has no face,
Follow it, it has no back.

Understand the past, but attend the present;
In this way you know the continuity of Tao,
Which is its essence.”

–Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching – Peter Merel’s Interpolation)

Poetry, Taoism

Lao Tzu on Love

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“Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.

Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.”

— Lao Tzu (Tao te Ching — Peter Merel’s Interpolation)

Poetry, Taoism

The Tao Te Ching on True Mastery

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The Master doesn’t try to be powerful;
thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he never has enough.

The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.

The kind man does something,
yet something remains undone.
The just man does something,
and leaves many things to be done.
The moral man does something,
and when no one responds
he rolls up his sleeves and uses force.

When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.

Therefore the Master concerns himself
with the depths and not the surface,
with the fruit and not the flower.
He has no will of his own.
He dwells in reality,
and lets all illusions go.

–Tao Te Ching (ch. 38 — S. Mitchell Translation)

Poetry

Oh Guru, On that Bed of Nails: You Know It Better Than Anyone

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I was Frustrated with the world, since as anyone can see, it is a vacuous place and its easy to feel forgotten and discarded. I wanted to know more, so I could finally understand, where I truly belong in this ungodly awful sham.

You see, it seems that all I get from this world is the same old thing, just an image of my life, that’s nothing, but unreal. Its as plain as day, to anyone who wishes to see, who they want me to be is not to be me.

So along came this guru, who says he can lay on a bed of nails. He says that I know nothing, and that my hands are firmly tied.

So then I got involved, and I later found that I don’t have the ability, nor could I ever, to find an answer inside. It seems I am just too corrupt and awful inside, but all I have to do to turn it around, is live the life that he tells me to.

So I’ll just drop everything, that I ever felt I should do, turn my back on my friends, and leave it all behind. They have no real value, as I have been told, since they are merely bags of waste; so I will just follow him down, into the dark hole of certainty. Continue reading Oh Guru, On that Bed of Nails: You Know It Better Than Anyone →

Poetry

We Will Fall Apart

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I won’t remember what you were when you were young.
You were no one then and you’re nothing now.
Do you remember what you denied me then.
Do you remember what you deny my body now
I do, oh I do….

When I feel your heart we will come undone,
We will fall apart…

Will you deny me when I get down on my knees
You’re nothing now,
Your body’s burning down
Do you remember how cruel you used to be.
Do you remember what you deny my weakness now.
I do, oh I do….

When you remember who you are,
We will come undone.
We will fall apart…

~Jarboe

Poetry

This is Mine

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This Is Mine
I Own It
I Own This Thing
I Hate Everything
That I Don’t Own
I Own This
I Own This Hole
It’s Mine
Get Out Of My Hole
It’s Mine
It’s Mine
When You Touch My Things
You Spoil Them
When Things Get Dirty
I Spit Them Out
I Own This
I Own This
It’s Mine
It’s Mine

~Michael Gira