Hallway to Nowhere

Category: poems

  • On The Ridge (Poem)

    the air chill and overcast

    the ground bleak as the louring sky

    then amidst the stippled rain

    there catches the slanting light

    the sun’s brief gold

    shimmering in the drear and gloom

    stands one tree high above

    that tree shines

  • Will I Be Writing Inside A Cell? (Poem)

    right now I am free to walk down the street

    to be threatened by white men in white vehicles

    free to go to the market and shops

    to be harassed by white men in red hats

    they think to intimidate, bully, and scare

    by looming larger than they actually are

    I have no fear of them or their kind

    nothing they can do will make me afraid

    I am freer than they can ever know

    in ways that they can never understand

    will not hesitate to look at them and ask

    would you like to talk

  • The Garrote (Poem)

    tight as a knot, hard as a fist

    pay close attention to this

    some attachment, a driving need

    some aversion, an illusory deed

    a swirling colorful tale, a looping noisy cinch

    the trick to catch and relax the pinch

    when last we talked, I must have my say

    now being more attentive to listen in a deeper way

    lest I find I cannot breathe, choked by overween

  • Weather God (Poem)

    as the winds deafen with roaring howls

    the water buckets in drenching pour

    the waves tower in threatening heights

    and I stand bewildered, shivering, and afraid

    a quiet voice speaks amidst the terror

    remember, foolish one, what you learned so long ago

    you have felt the stillness in the eye of a hurricane

    remember, foolish one, what you have learned since

    you yourself create the worst of storms

    breathe so that your mind calms

    then examine the stories you turn into a gale

  • Thus, Day 1 (Poem)

    how should I approach this time

    whether I sit or walk, I am beseiged

    a hundred worrisome concerns cloud my mind

    a thousand interwoven sorrows weigh my heart

    anywhere I look is filled with shadows

    comes an answer:

    remember the wheel of sharp weapons turns and turns

    you are impaling yourself upon its keen blades

    bring to mind again the cause of all suffering

    face your self-cherishing as the enemy to blame

    grind dirty selfishness into the path of compassion

    transform polluted craving into offering great generosity

    eat your own poisons so that others might live

  • Reckoning (Poem)

    if I hold those paintings in my hands

    the hurricane will finally hit

    the house in which I spent my youth

    torn to ruins in the howling storm

    everything that I remembered gone

    my mother herself now dead

    I learned in childhood early on

    how to survive such wind and rain

    stand in the eye matching its eerie calm

    I have no qualms about doing so again

  • Same Game, Different Day (Poem)

    and so we wait in different ways

    discuss-or not-the end of days

    this approaching event

    we forget that we’ve been here before

    the die gets cast again and again

    a golden apple caused a war

    destroyed a city and founded an empire

    all for vanity’s sake

    death and the destroyer of worlds

    brought horrors beyond imagine

    killed people both quickly and slowly

    again because of wounded pride

    the mad, the bad, and the angry

    are still riding the storms of fear

    from which they feed and draw their strength

    one day, some day, we’ll stop and say

    let us not be afraid any more.

  • Two Dhatus, Two Tools (Poem)

    when the world seems too much with me

    and concerns weigh heavier than the rain-dark clouds

    so that I walk unaware with lowered heart

    hostage to the wild maraud of desires and distractions

    overwhelmed by the thunderous din of undisciplined mind

    I know that I have forgotten the simple tools at hand

    one being to stop where I am and open my eyes

    do nothing but see what there is to see

    today I stood in a rain of leaves blowing from nearby trees

    color fell around me in bright yellow, red, and gold

    the wonder of it all so much more than enough

    I remembered then to breathe

    another being to pause and listen without expectation

    do nothing but hear what sounds occur

    one evening at just the right moment (every moment)

    I found myself surrounded by nightsong

    the whirr and click of crickets and the throated croak of frogs

    the immediacy of these calls such an anchor

    I knew the present to be home

  • Where We Can Rest (Poem)

    if I could tell you, would you wish to know

    if I could ask, would you be wise to answer

    there is space where we can sit

    where a moment becomes infinite

    each breath the only one we ever breathe

    we release our demands that we define all

    we relax into being alive

    grounded like a mountain, spacious as open sky

  • Another Reason Not To Fear (Poem)

    here is what I know

    why I will not turn away from you

    however your regard

    each encounter is a precious thing

    I will never know my own countenance

    but I can see your face and you mine

    what a gift indeed