“it’s ours”

18 08 2010

I love this.

“there is always that space there
just before they get to us
that space
that fine relaxer
the breather
while say
flopping on a bed
thinking of nothing
or say
pouring a glass of water from the
spigot
while entranced by nothing

that
gentle pure
space

it’s worth

centuries of
existence

say

just to scratch your neck
while looking out the window at
a bare branch

that space
there
before they get to us

ensures
that when they do
they won’t
get it all

ever.”

– by Charles Bukowski, from the collection You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense





“From this hour, freedom!”

21 07 2010

I’m leaving for a little vacation, sans computer, and won’t be back until next Tuesday evening. Until then, I leave you with a verse from one of my favorite pieces of poetry about traveling, and life…

“From this hour, freedom!
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines,
Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute,
Listening to others, and considering well what they say,
Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating,
Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.

I inhale great draughts of space;
The east and west are mine; and the north and the south are mine.

I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness.

All seems beautiful to me;
I can repeat over to men and women, You have done such good to me,
I would do the same to you.

I will recruit for myself and you as I go;
I will scatter myself among men and women as I go;
I will toss the new gladness and roughness among them;
Whoever denies me, it shall not trouble me;
Whoever accepts me, he or she shall be blessed, and shall bless me.”

– From Song of the Open Road, verse 5, by Walt Whitman





“Be still.”

19 07 2010

One more bit from the Dhammapada for today…

“Live in joy,
In love,
Even among those who hate.

Live in joy,
In health,
Even among the afflicted.

Live in joy,
In peace,
Even among the troubled.

Look within.
Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of the way.”

– from the Dhammapada (translated by Thomas Byrom)





“Come out from behind the clouds!”

19 07 2010

“However young,
The seeker who sets out upon the way
Shines bright over the world.

But day and night
The man who is awake
Shines in the radiance of the spirit.

Meditate.
Live purely.
Be quiet.
Do your work, with mastery.

Like the moon,
Come out from behind the clouds!
Shine.”

– from the Dhammapada (translated by Thomas Byrom)








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