bodhi

look back, look ahead,

turn your gaze inward.
speak your heart's truth.
give in to its deep despair.
trace its shapeless joys.
allow yourself to laugh
at your follies, forgive
others and yourself.
self-pity is tempting, but
self-love must be made
of sterner stuff.or softer.
work.work.work.
tire yourself. tirelessly.
rest.lean back.breathe.
let the sweat-ridden body
wash away the cares
of your besieged soul.

float in your silences,
let your thoughts flow
like leaves in a stream,
allow them to congregate
in crevices of stony banks.
leave them be. break out
of the forced calmness of
furious minds, with honesty
only empathy can carve.
above all else, listen.

listen with care to
firecracking noises,
the cracks in voices,
the peals, squeals,
yawps, howls, hoots,
tied tongues, earthy muffles,
fierce numbness, pins and
needles, torpor, stupor,
waxing, coaxing, waning,
the racing, pulsating, the
waiting, of split seconds
and entrenched aeons.

keep listening.
listen until you see.
see until you feel.
Feel until you be.
be.become.no more
the criss crossings
of empty(ing) dualities,
goings and comings,
kernels and shells,
yesterdays, tomorrows,
foreseen, untold,
unseen, foretold,
experienced, unlived,
nostalgia, regret, hope,
a pinch, a stab, 'et tu?'
no more. Surrender.
unto a watchfulness,
grateful and borderless,
embrace (your) infinity.

trailing

walk with me...
on these uneven trails
where our memories
should be nest(l)ing
on sturdy branches
we cannot reach.
being too old now
to climb these trees,
what shall we do?

is there another way
to relive love's glory
in shadows of virtue?
or must we go back
not quite empty handed,
but with nought to show
for the guileless roads
we had long trudged.

When the frost ridden
path had forked, we
kept promises aside,
and made our choices.
Someday i will return
to the oak that stood
at the fated crossroad,
and revisit our final goodbye.

nightfall

i look for you in the
dark veil of moonless
nights, in long shadows
cast by old sins. love is
foolish, a crescent sliver
will whisper tomorrow.
Your defection to light
will not be spoken of,
and rightly so. Loyalty
is overrated enough.