Thursday 27 March 2014

The Caterpillar Is Not Condemned By The Butterfly

The caterpillar is not condemned by the butterfly

I was looking (in all the wrong places)
for a solution to a riddle
that didn’t exist

That’s how it had to be
That’s how I had to be
We have to be that to become this

Here’s the secret: there’s nothing about you
that needs to be changed,
nothing even a hair’s breadth out of place
Transformation is your very nature;
no admonishments or exhortations are required.

Yet we berate the caterpillar
We’re often at odds with our markings
Struggling, our movement limited to an ungainly crawl,
we long to fly, in the faint belief
that we have wings, somewhere

One day, the time comes, and all activities cease
All further motion is rendered futile
as we turn inward, trust the darkness, and wait.

Sunday 23 March 2014

There Is Nothing To Be Done

I’ve been rationing silence
(As if it were a rare and precious commodity)
Because I knew it would be the death of me
And I had to learn to be willing to die

Stop for too long, and the Divine will claim you as its own
Make sure there aren’t too many cracks where the light can come in
Or you’ll realise that there is nothing to be done

You can’t force this: let it come to you
You do not need to earn or embellish existence

Friday 21 March 2014

Life Will Move Me, When Movement Is Required

I don't want to talk any more
Neither do I want to move, or respond, or react

My senses - already replete
with tree branches, birds and the sound of the rain - 
need no further stimulation

Why elaborate?
How could this possibly be improved upon?

All my years of meddling achieved nothing
Except my own (inevitable) exhaustion

Life will move me, when movement is required

Until then, I'll look at the sunlit water drops on the window pane
And sip this tea. 

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Trust

I trust you completely

I was trying to keep some of it out
I was trying to keep some of it in
There I was, squeezed in the middle
So many frontiers to be guarded
So much vigilance required to prevent encroachment
Protecting and surviving, I yearned for reassurance

The vastness then becomes apparent
It’s all so heartbreakingly beautiful
Every birth, every death

Nothing was ever wrong
Nothing has ever been wrong

Such gratitude. Such grace. Such perfection. 

Friday 7 March 2014

I Know By Heart

How can I not be with you in your pain?

I know – by heart – the bereftness and grief of loss
I, too, have been seared by scalding, murderous rage
I’ve felt that same sting of guilt and regret
And been on intimate terms with shame

What is there to understand?

It happened, and it hurt
(Things happen, and they hurt)

So let it hurt
Yes, to all that is in you
Yes, yes, to all those hurts, all those unfelt feelings

We’ve waited so long, yet it takes so little
When we give up trying to solve it
And simply let it hurt for a while, together.


Saturday 1 March 2014

I Am All That

A coat of many colours has been made for you

Now, I see:
All I’ve ever wanted is to be here, like this
Finally saying yes to all that I am

All that I am
(As if there could be any debate)

I am all this, without distinction or discrimination
No part greater or lesser
Noting denied

Joseph’s brothers despised him, not because he had the coat,
But because he had the courage to wear it
Knowing he was all that

My dear, a coat of many colours has been sewn for you, too.