Sky Mind

  To see Void vast infinite

look out the window

into the blue sky

Allen Ginsberg

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If I cannot find the blue sky

If I cannot find the void

Then I will try to revisit the blue sky

Then I will try to revisit the void

Somewhere between the void and the blue sky

I will find the haiku

I will find the beat poet

Somewhere between the blue sky and the void

I will find the poem

I will find the poetry

If I cannot find the old words

The well-preserved words

Then I will write new words

The self-absorbed words

Somewhere between the dying and the death

I will find life in the haiku

I will find life in the beat poet

Somewhere between the death and the dying

I will find life in the poetry

I will find life in the poem

If I cannot find the death

If I cannot find the dying

Then I will try to find the words of the death

Then I will try to find the words of the dying

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Pausing

pausing

halfway up the stair—

white chrysanthemums

Elizabeth Searle Lamb

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The stairway place is now free

I sit right up to the Georgian window

A young woman wheels a wheelbarrow

Across the field, past the trees

It is not so silent as Bow

Doors bang, doors crash

I can hear conversations

But van Gogh’s blossom is still here

A young oriental woman

Climbs the stairs energetically

She smiles, says: Hi, hello

Before moving on to the door

This is the main thoroughfare

Between upstairs and downstairs

The wallpaper is rather grand

Exotic birds, with feathered tails 

Outside in the field

There are masses of molehills

Each peppered by pigeons

Another woman wheels her barrow

Though this time she moves

In the opposite direction

Before stopping, in the middle

Maybe for a Karma break

I tell you this as a momentary record

Fifteen minutes of a life

Quite possibly never to be revisited

With, or without the wheelbarrow 

haiku mind

108 poems to

cultivate awareness 

& open your heart

is by Patricia Donegan

Obedience, Stability, Conversion (The Artist’s Rule)

A stream of consciousness; definitions, and responses to the given meanings.

Obedience

I am at my best when the task is to obey myself; I do see the blue skies, the red sunrises, the yellow sunflowers, the sensual shadows of bob-cut hair. I obey the desire to find peace, calm, stillness, love. Also the urges for passion; sexuality and sensuality of past and present times. I walk through meadows and on beaches; I taste the salted sea and feel the Mistral blow through my hair.

Stability

Today I sit, listen to The Temple of the Heart. My meditation quietens what otherwise might be a restlessness. In these strangely quiet times I am more than a survivor, I take joy from the beauty of the moment of these moments. I am asked to stay at home, and I will stay at home, I am here now aren’t I.

Conversion

I am driven, always I have sought growth. First it was economic growth, to allow me to change and improve my circumstances. Next came technical and academic growth, to put myself on an equal or higher footing than those who I was aiming to compete with. Finally I have moved into personal and spiritual growth, to allow me to both explore myself and understand the various societies in which I already am, or would wish to be, embedded. This exploration confirms, and doubts, my faith in myself, in more or less equal measure.

The French Pantoum Poem

I am at my best when my task is to obey myself; I see 

    the blue skies, the red sunrises, the flowers

Also the urges for passion: sexuality and sensuality

    of past and present times

I am more than a survivor, I take joy from the beauty

    of the moment of the moments

I am asked to stay at home; I will stay at home, I am 

    here now aren’t I

Also the urges for passion: sexuality and sensuality

    of past and present times

To put myself on an equal or higher footing than

    those who I was aiming to compete with

I am asked to stay at home; I will stay at home, I am

    here now aren’t I

This exploration confirms, and doubts, my faith in

    myself in more or less equal measure

To put myself on an equal or higher footing than

    those who I was aiming to compete with

I am more than a survivor, I take joy from the beauty

    of the moment of the moments

This exploration confirms, and doubts, my faith in

    myself in more or less equal measure

I am at my best when my task is to obey myself; I see

    the blue skies, the red sunrises, the flowers

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Methods For Compatibility

I am skirting too close to religion

As a non-believer

I know that I put myself at risk

For there is much of love and beauty

On their journeys and celebrated paths

Also in their ceremonies, churches and cathedrals

I could become enchanted

Some would say that I already am

Yet always I try to keep some distance

Even now, holding hands in thanks

For this day just joyously lived through

Or the day ahead inviting us to come on in

What is it, and why do I choose

To set myself apart from the crowd

However much that crowd might be dwindling

I do walk in to pray, similar but different to others

I am happy with the shake and swing of the incense

I care for the call and response of Benedictine chant

I have slept and eaten within the monastic walls

I read the stories of those they have favoured

And I do fear for their disappearance, sincerely

So I am pleased to help, in a small way, hoping that

My donations go towards their continuity of purpose

As, at the same time, I lessen my exposure to risk

 

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works

Rogue Or No

I have adopted words from the canon of religion

Into the peace of my non-religious world

Faith, and grace, and prayer, and love

Are to be found liberally scattered

Just as the vegetarian chooses to name her food

Burger, sausage roll, chicken on a stick

Then I choose to name my non-religious thoughts

In the existence of writing man, or of religious man

Today I sent a photograph to my youngest son

And his girlfriend; also to my grandchildren

I used the words Happy Easter without qualm

Or fear, of any kind of time-based retribution

For it is not up to me, nor you either

To determine whether  others should be starved

Of the beautiful words from the past of religion

With its immense breadth and depth of storytelling

I have no objection to the cathedrals

Or the icons, or the rituals; indeed

I have attended and I have been moved

By the humanity shared in the gatherings

My difficulty arrives when the words are turned

Into instructions, often with violence adopted

As a way to ensure that the followers are kept

On pathways, determined by heaven knows who

Available at Amazon

Christopher's Website
for his Collected Works