Monday 28 December 2015

In the Museum of Suffering

My carefully curated collection
has been well-tended, as has yours;
We stayed with the cross long after
Christ himself had ascended into heaven,
our suffering  selves sanctified and idolised
and the meaning of his supposed death lost on us

Do not make a special case for suffering:
those velvet-bound exhibits in their glass cabinets,
however precious, do not confer nobility nor special blessings
(I believed that my soul would profit, but that was a lie).

We fetishised the cross, and postponed the resurrection. 

Wednesday 25 March 2015

The World, And You

There is no difference
(It’s all in me)

It’s so much simpler than you think;
There’s nothing to monitor, evaluate, control, compare
There’s nothing to save (or lose)

There’s only one coin, despite
Our ability to see both sides

Those grand opposites –
Life and death, better or worse, up or down –
No longer holding sway

How much I’ve longed for this
How much I’ve longed to be back here
Where being has no opposite
(For there is no opposite to isness)
Where there is endless space in which to meet

As you are, so is the world
As the world is, so are you;
Some regions beautiful, privileged
Other areas dispossessed, neglected
Whatever you do to you, you do to the world
Whatever you do to the world, you do to you,
For there is no difference







Tuesday 13 January 2015

This Body

This body needs no further instruction

I lost the ability to move
Except by decree;
The postures, poses and forms
Externally prescribed, and restrictive

This body became a stranger, foreign
Its motives suspect, its needs unconscionable

It mutinied, of course
Who wouldn’t under such a regime?

Its energy sequestered
Its forces subjugated to purposes not its own
It failed to thrive
Howling at the restraints of civility

Now, it starts to move
Entirely on its own terms
And surprises me
Possessed of a deep well of resources
Its grace and wisdom become apparent

As it begins to forgive these decades of neglect
I crawl, delighted
I rest on my haunches, enthused