Dude L

curlicues
dashes and dots
jotted down
in patterns, imprecise
in pictures precocious

these things matter
more
to a boy
in a dull room
trying to keep out
of all of that
bad education

reading braille at night (sort of after Rumi)

courage my loved one
fearful days have arrived
but only because
you have summoned them

it is an open-casket funeral
behold your beautiful face

come,
drink from the faucet
like you did when you were young

you are free
like the light that consumes your fear
as you take your own hand
and laugh
for all the things you never wanted
in the first place

hinge

door spinning
in deep space
no predicate
just a lacquered wood door
turning on its hinge
among the stars
and meteors
and cosmic catastrophe
and dolphins
swim through this door
or wait for it to open
before slipping in

how do they tell
if it's closed or open
when they can just
go around it?

you asked me

you asked me
to write
you a poem
here it is
enjoy it
while it
lasts

atman is brahman

Breathe, in and out
Moving pictures
You and I
And them
And us
And the artist known as God

Atman
Is Brahman
No one, nothing else

It is a far poorer paradigm –
We feel we are separate

A newer idea –
We press into each other
Even at a distance
Feel the breeze
Connect us at a molecular level
Deeper
No deeper
We schism to rejoin
Again and again
It hurts
And then
Brilliance

fresh cut lotus

Fresh cut
Lotus, bamboo
In water
Peace
Over
Peace
Prayer banners
Discreet footfall
In snow
I am climbing
With these flowers and stems
In hand
To place
At your feet
At the top
At mountain’s peak
We still share
Silence
The true
Blood of Christ
Silence
The wingfall
Of a dove
At rest
In a maelstrom

hope undressed

we wander like ghosts
roaming fields
cerebral streets
neural pathways
school buildings

the clocks tick
we cannot concentrate
it is the ghosts that tick
we cannot comprehend
a word of this

and our minds
are as windows onto the rain
our thoughts
when least entertained
subside like
ripples on water
when the wind dies

we are multitudes
suppressed
but our hope
when undressed
is an education
with no words
a sacredness
with no religion