The Beautiful is the teacher
Of the Philosophical.
Apprehending beauty
Is the dawn of understanding.
Expressing beauty
Is the awakening of knowledge
Living as its instrument
Is our pilgrimage to wisdom.
What is Love?
Love is indefinable
But it needs to be explained
Lest we begin to define it
In terms of our bittersweet experiences;
In terms of what it never was–
An artefact of our desires.
Love,
Even if it were a thing
Would not be the thing in itself
But the spirit that lends itself
To a constitution and
Makes perceptible a harmony.
It’s the melody in a song
It’s the fragrance that emanates
From a flower and then
Fills up the air that surrounds it.
It is the intensity within emotion
That is distinct from the emotion itself.
Our very being is love.
And to the extent we are free
From the hunger and thirst of the heart;
From the endless wanting of the mind–
To that extent we are able
To express our love.
Who Are You?
In a sea of people
You are a wave.
In a country of hopes
You are an expectation.
In a family with needs
You are a sustainer
In an institution of faith
You are belief.
In a group of equals
You are a voice.
Amongst ‘forever friends’
You are comfort and company.
In an industry and the economy
You are a resource.
In passing time
You are a memory.
In changing reality
You are a constant.
In being and becoming
You are but a witness.
Not in the Resumé
For every hour
That one has lived…
Enjoyed… endured…
There has been
The eventual triumph
Of reason, relationships and resolve.
What greater proof of one’s abilities
Than their having lived
Without losing love and hope…
And having sustained their families
Their passions, their disciplines…
Their faith.
Home
What you return to is home.
It’s not just the familiarity
Of things and routines…
It is their specific melody.
It’s not just the people
Who fill it with warmth and cheer,
It’s the belongingness
Within relationships.
Home is where you feel most at rest.
A home is made
Little by little,
Moment by moment,
Prayer by prayer…
With silent resolve
But more than that,
With faith–
That our home is our temple…
It’s where our devotion lives.
Fashioning
In the interstices
Of our daily activities
Exists silence.
A just-is-ness
A pause. An emptiness
That is not an end or a limitation
But a dissolution
Of senseless activity…
A soft, but firm reminder
That freedom, potentiality and truth
Lie within the weave
Of thought and action
But are not bound by them.
Fashioning (ourselves)
Is a spiritual action
That understands
The value and potential
Of the states of nothing-ness,
Just-is-ness, being-ness…
And the role they play
In our becoming.
Midlife
What happens
When the heart breaks
Repeatedly?
How does one continue to feel?
When feeling is risky…
So painful…
Pain is an indication
Of unresolved grief
When there has been no
Acknowledgement of hurt caused
No apology. No gesture. No words…
That rushed in to soothe the pain
Pretence, resolution…
Explaining the other’s motives
In a sort of quasi goodness–
Are the defences used
To shield oneself
From the pain.
In inhibiting the pain
One also inhibits feeling
A collateral damage…
Life now is understood as a function.
That must be carried out.
Its difficulties endured.
Feelings get used strategically
At anniversaries, birthday parties, on Instagram.
But emotions are kept at bay.
Keep the heart functioning optimally.
Work on its efficiency.
Keep the pace on the treadmill.
Mistakes are Milestones
What mistakes am I making?
What mistakes have I made?
Is regret even a reasonable emotion?
…When you know that you’re on a journey
If you didn’t take a path
That you could have
Does it matter?
Destinations are just stops
…Milestones that you arrive to
And then move on.
They’re not permanent
…You’re not permanent
Concern is just a desire for permanency.
Let go of the need
To predetermine outcomes
Make better judgments
After you have made the bad ones.
Live life
The way it’s intended to be lived.
About Endings
The pain of an ending
Is never so much
As when you know it.
And yet the sobs are silent
Muffled as they are
By the gags of normalcy.
Decency ensures
That the lines on your face
Are drawn into a smile…
That pretends to keep you social
While ensuring
That your façade reveals nothing.
You are close, yet far
In continuation
But discontinued.
Remembered
But not needed
Loved, but relegated.
‘Forever’ is no one’s destiny
It can only be our prayer
…Our hope.
And hope- we forget
-Can only convey us…
It makes no promises.
Separate we must.
All beginnings must end
All journeys must traverse a destiny.
Art and Design
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.
Wit. Wisdom. Wonder... 