I shared this poem with a couple of friends at the recent Diamond Approach Teacher’s Training. Prakash asked that I post it, so here it is.

As for the title, the poem starts as a question, perspective and understanding follow, and it ends in surprise

?  .  !

Here is something I don’t understand

often love carries a brand

Circle K or rocking bar

defining whose or what we are

A burn on the hip; a name off the lip

possessiveness and ownership

Some confine love to the head or the bed

and try to improve it with something they’ve read

Many believe that love can be given

to and from it others feel driven

Do you think we pick and choose

that love is something we can use

Something earned and often planned

subject to payment on demand

When love’s a commodity traded around

it’s no fucking wonder it can’t be found

It can’t be given or sent to a friend

those thinking this are around the bend

Our minds will never figure love out

the paradoxes keep it in doubt

Love is more a taste or a flavor

making our life something to savor

The seers and prophets down through the ages

philosophers, magi, and even the sages

Say love is the very fabric of life

it can’t be divvied up with a knife

It’s finer than silk or gossamer wings

penetrating even the densest of things

This includes you and certainly me

and it isn’t subject to any decree

Love is the Life, blood of the soul

complete in itself, making all things whole

Swelling the chest, melting the breast

the heart’s beloved wandering guest

A bee to the flower, a moth to flame

blessing all with only one name

O! that the selfish, lonely and cruel

would come and steal this precious jewel

The alchemy of this hoarded treasure

transforms a man of any measure

The strong go weak; the powerful meek

the lamb and the lion dance cheek to cheek

Revelers bathe in liquid moon shine

hearts are drunk on rosewater wine

Drunkards are dancing; children are prancing

wounds and hearts the Guest is lancing

The beat of the drum; the flute and its hum

sweetens us up like a ripened plum

Love cascades in a quiet crescendo

opens the door and enters the window

Love is an ester flooding the room

making us all a bride and a groom

No one is spared; nectar is shared

more and more bosoms are being bared

The heart is birthing; constantly mirthing

the mystery, IT is unearthing

Flickering light; darkening night

curiosity quickens the heart’s delight

The night is afire, a joyous choir

an ecstatic dance within this pyre

The fire dies down, we don a green gown

deciding to take this party to town

Smiles on our face, we spill from this place

letting the children set the pace

We make a great noise, disregard poise

and giggle at all our conduct annoys

The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker

will never again be our heartbreaker

Love is no longer tied to a thought

or seen as something that must be sought

Love is what we’re never without

regardless of all we’re bitching about

So I hope these words in part convey

Good God! I forgot what I started to say!!!

One day while in a downcast mood

I walked in mountain solitude

Absorbed within deep heartache

Particular paths I did not take

Late the hour on that day

Recalling not footstep’s way

When open eyes I could not keep

Dreamlessly did I sleep

Awakened by morning’s light

Untold beauty awed my sight

Alpine meadow sweet and fair

Surely God’s very lair

On every blade dew did glisten

Choral birds bade me listen

Such majesty in that place

Heart’s response flushed my face

Deep inner rhythms stirred my soul

I lived complete within a whole

The sun climbed high upon the sky

Before my tears began to dry

And as I rose to take my leave

Once again, did I grieve

To leave such beauty far behind

Made no sense to the mind

It begged a flower me to take

Wanting one such small keepsake

Gently from within my breast

Loving words from the Guest

To cast a ripple on this pool

Would be the act of a fool

True contact won’t fit a sack

To be carried on your back

Mind’s desire for history

Is the living death of me

Tomorrow today will be the past

Your memory can’t make it last

This moment holds a choice for you

The options are only two

Going back from whence you came

Or heart’s desire if you’re game

Though walking now on unknown ground

A joyful magic I have found

The mystery of that lair

Heart reveals everywhere

Related Posts

• Platonic Forms – Platonic Love
• Universal Love
• Love Feast

Links of Interest

I was at Esin Restaurant in Danville, CA last night having a glass of wine when Esin joined my dad and me. We got to sharing history and stories. I mentioned Rumi to Esin (she is from Turkey) and she said her mother read Rumi. Esin remembers her mother reciting these lines:

Come, come, whoever you are.

Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.

It doesn’t matter.

Ours is not a caravan of despair.

Come, even if you have broken your vow

a thousand times

Come, yet again, come, come.

I asked Esin if she knew of Yunus Emre. She did and wanted to know how I knew of him.

Don’t all lovers of the divine know of Yunus, Rumi, Hafiz, Rabia?

Mystical Poets

Related Posts

• Devastation – Ruin of the Heart
• The Pearl Beyond Price
• Lovers
• The Dancing Cry Of The Soul
• Remembering Carol
• Visitor

Links of Interest

The longest and one of the most complex poems I have written is titled – The Mountain. The mountain is used to help describe my relationship to my self, the world and my superego (inner critic). The poem has three sections – The Day Face, The Night Face and The Crucible of the Heart. Each section has two parts. The first part describes my relationship to the mountain from a certain perspective and the second part describes a journey of revelation and growth that opens up the perspective.

The Mountain

always the mountain
soaring up from earth
stretching far beyond eagle’s reach
noble aristocrat, Olympian presence
empyrean sovereign bows to none
head high in tempest or tranquility
inspires, reassures
prodigious seduction from afar
and I
pretender to the throne
emulate such grandiosity
rock solid, I stand aloof
with pretentious dignity
one cool remove away
from the world and its ailment
man – humankind
me

Read the entire poem – The Mountain

Mountain Interests

Related Posts

• Narcissism – The I’s Have It
• Human Maturity – Ego Immaturity
• Missing My Pocket Parents

Links of Interest

Making our lives something to savor

Items of Interest

Links of Interest

Devastation – Ruin of the Heart

Who says this love
Is a consuming fire
When that love
Is a river of bliss

Who says this love
Is the light of God
When that love
Is dark Mystery

Who says this love
The soul hungers for
When that love
Devours the false

Here is the secret
Of this and that
HU says…

Links of Interest

Items of Interest

Past midnight

The moon crept in

Announcing Your arrival

Grumbling

Accompanied my hasty departure

On the bare roof

Sheer

Night-sky majesty

Flooding me

With gratitude

Poetry Expressing the Heart & Soul

Where does poetry come from? Where does poetry go? When you write poetry, is it a struggle, a flow – is it even you? Poetry has as many faces as souls on the planet. Share a bit of yours.

Intimate knowledge
Dark waters
Births a real human being
Blesses the soul
Frees the heart

A radiance
From the depths
Down
Down
Down
Into the world
Of man

Seeking love with heart sincere
a bloodied child sheds a tear
Our cause is just, the course won’t veer
such hypocrites, we have no peer

From global wars to marriage spats
righteousness wears white hats
And just like hissing alley cats
soon throws itself upon the rats

They say we live an age of reason
apparently there has been treason
But let us wait another season
before removing ego’s lesion

Religious leaders take such pride
in claiming God is on their side
As human passions they seek to hide
in fear the flock finds they lied

If all is fair in love and war
then our poor world will heal no sore
And children raised on local lore
will also rot at the core