Hallway to Nowhere

Category: buddhist

  • Abstractus (Poem For Feb 22-PouncePunk22)

    What do we take from our daily experience?

    The constant barrage of information, be it correct or not,

    Loudly demands we pay attention.

    Rather than fostering any noetic pause for processing,

    This noise by design fuels ongoing addiction

    To strong emotion, usually of a negative character.

    We need regulation to combat this, both societal and individual.

    Let us learn to become responsible, not merely responsive.

    We are both curators and creators of our inner world.

    This cannot be separated from the outer.

    How then shall we choose to live?

  • Drink Me (Poem-Feb 12 PouncePunk Art Challenge)

    I sat in deep meditation and then.

    I fell through a rabbit hole.

    When I opened my eyes, I saw a bottle labeled “DRINK ME.”

    I noted the beautiful label and examined it.

    It smelled of cherry-tart, custard, and hot buttered toast.

    I was tempted by this intriguing offer but hesitated.

    A fierce rabbit appeared with a ticking watch and a mala.

    I heard the deep tone of a singing bowl and awakened.

    I see through the delusions of Mara.

    Poisons often come in pleasant forms.

  • Give Me Shelter (Poem-Feb 5 PouncePunk Art Challenge)

    Where do I find my home?

    If external and anchored to a particular place, persons, or circumstance,

    I always live in a temporary abode, a shifting unstable shelter.

    Eventually I will be homeless, as will we all.

    If internal and built with sturdy foundations shored by constant reinforcement,

    I have a much different type of dwelling, a flexible steady residence.

    If you place your happiness in that which can be taken from you,

    You will lose your happiness.

    Love where you are; love those around you; love what you love, in any way.

    I do so and find comfort in all of these.

    They will change and even pass away,

    So I cherish them for their fleeting presence.

    My hearthstone is placed in another realm,

    Connected to all around, until it crumbles also,

    Impermanent as I am.

  • What Is Simple? (Poem-Feb 3 PouncePunk Art Challenge)

    Life used to be so simple.

    Really? Or does blinkered memory make it so?

    Just being alive, no matter your situation, entails mess.

    Complications always arise,

    And our control is often more limited than we imagine.

    If we learn to handle the uncertain ground that is existence,

    Then we can find meaning and connection.

    We can let go of fear and instead face change

    With openness, resoluteness, and acceptance.

    What if we turn the fight into a dance?

    Hear songs of kindness, joy, and community rather than tunes of cruelty, misery, and division?

    The hard road of suffering is our common path, but how we travel it depends on us.

    Pay attention. The choice is mine and yours and ours.

    It can begin with a single breath.

  • Emotion (Poem-Feb 2 PouncePunk Art Challenge)

    You are neither my definition nor my master.

    I have learned to consider you thus:

    Shades of color passing through transparent glass,

    Washes to be examined with curiosity and intent.

    I see you vividly in your depth and complexity

    And experience whatever you bring to the moment.

    But always I remember that you are temporary

    And leave no lasting impression.

    I can choose not to embrace delusion and attachment.