Our days are ever-developing patterns
Of activity, of attention
Of thought, of belief
Of hope, of feeling
Of organization, of comfort
Of sustenance, of communication
Of staying connected
And of togetherness.
Humanity is the art
That emerges from
Intelligent Design.
When the minute
Inspires the hour;
And the hour
Builds the day;
And the days
Deliver the week;
And the weeks
Accomplish the month;
And the months
Grow the years;
And the years
Create a lifetime…
You realize-
It’s the little things
That matter.
The New
Is an emergence
An arrival
A change
A release
From the old and the irrelevant
Into the ancient and the eternal.
“I”
-an idea
-an image
-an impostor
-an individual
-an identity
-an idiom
-an illusion
-an imperfection
-intelligence
Life is a design
For sublimating the ‘I’
For losing it in life
So that it is not merely
Concluded by death.
Offer the ‘I’ through work
Dissolve it in devotion.
Learn to become…
But only to discover
Who you never were.
Learn to embrace
All the things that
The other ‘I’s in the world
Are ashamed of-
And run away from:
Failure
Loss
Solitude
Grief
Ordinariness.
Therein lies
The light by which
You will come to see
The darkness in which
The “I” was born.
Appearances are not the Truth
And the Truth is evident, not apparent.
Know the difference.
Courage may not always look grand
It often keeps its distance from the grandiosity of gesture.
Let it remain invisible.
Your real achievements often go unnoticed.
Awards are intended to legitimise the awarder.
Their place is on a shelf; yours, in life.
You’re educated to acquire special skills
Yet all real work happens through surrender and prayer.
Give up all ideas of yourself.
Pornography isn’t confined
To the sexual.
In fact, it has become more pervasive
Than we care to admit.
It’s apparent in the way
We intercourse with life in general.
In man’s world
Everything must be
On a perpetual high-
Growth, profit, success
Romance, attention, appearance-
All must be managed, promised and pursued.
Effect is packaged as impact.
Titillation is now a form of power.
Popularity is an achievement.
Self-gratification is the road to happiness
Seduction is success
And attention is capital.
Pornography in essence
Is a redrawing
Of gaze and glimpse.
It’s a perversion
Of desire and touch.
And a degradation and decimation
Of what makes us human.
How marvellous is poetry
Where words with
Definitive meanings
Begin to explore a world
Beyond them.
Words can rise in wonder
They can descend in love.
They can enter abandoned heart spaces
And breathe life
Into feelings that were left to die.
Words can be more
Than just units of meaning…
They are also the pigments
That give color and visibility
To an existence beyond the one you’re living.
Poetry is an educator
Whose lessons get richer
With the accumulation
Of experience and memory.
They become your constitution.
Over time
Poetry that you lived with
Becomes a fragrance
That emanates from you.
Words are no longer needed.
The moment is bare.
My questions stand as a reflection.
My answers are unsure of themselves
And refract in search of other possibilities…
Past impressions collide with present gatherings…
The pen awaits its first recollection.
I am deeply conscious of my own emptiness
Or readiness…?
I’m waiting
For an arrival…
My ability to wait
Is my only claim
To an inherent creativity.
Money as a means
Is a blessing;
As an end in itself
It’s a curse.
As a means it provides
As an end it appropriates
As a means it exchanges value
As an end it robs value.
Money is an energy
That supports the business of living.
But it’s not the objective of life.
Ask yourself:
What’s the price you paid
To earn your money?
Can it redeem for you
All that you lost in its pursuit?
Can it sustain its worth
Or does it lose it over time?
Are you making money for money’s sake
By passing off a lesser value in exchange?
Have you normalised
An economic mindset
That sees nothing wrong
In profiting out of thievery?
What if we resolved
To spend more thoughtfully
Seeking value rather than a steal?
What if money could
Be made more true?
Not as wealth in itself
But as a supporter and promoter
Of the wealth already in you.
Play an active role
In your own life:
Make tough choices.
Create joy.
Give love.
Provide space.
Bring intelligence.
Leverage opportunities.
Earn respect.
Work for a cause.
Acquire experiences.
Develop capability.
Dream and then recreate the dream.
Inspire and influence.
Leave. Know when you’re not needed.
Accept your fate with faith.
Rest. Redeem yourself.
Wit. Wisdom. Wonder... 