The spiritual center of the universe abides within me,
first person witness to miracles amidst the mundane.
Whose legs better equipped to walk the talk
synaptically steered from head to lips?
Only I possess power to halt trains of thought
before, derailed, they become runaways
screeching through the hearts and minds of others
prior to landing, disheveled,
amidst my own manufactured debris.
Search for gods and devils all you will,
we need affirmations in this hall of mirrors;
though be honest when blaming the reflection,
leaving Essence on the sidelines
bleeding forgetfulness,
not forgiving surrogates their own trespasses.
Reblogged this on Ben Naga and commented:
I feel this speaks for itself. Those who have ears will hear it, I’m sure, and honour it’s author.
Thanks for the reblog. Always appreciated!
Beautiful 🙂
Thank you!
You and I were thinking the same thing this morning 🙂
Lovely beyond words…
Thank you! Aloha.
Bela,
Wow! What a powerful set of verses.
To me access to compassion can be achieved by seeing yourself as that ‘Clearing’ where the Universe, others and yourself exist along with the relationships, the Past, Present and the Future. As the observer of this clearing which is also us, we start developing compassion for all the actors in it including our own selves.
Shakti
Shakti, thanks as always for reading and for your thoughtful comments. I appreciate your description of process as pertains to developing compassion.
To me, compassion can only be experiential or it remains conceptual. It’s a dynamic term – too much overused in the US today – kind of a catch-all where it loses potency in practice. What I tried to accomplish here was to capture the essence of how it translates as a visceral experience. I hope I’ve conveyed a bit of that, anyway.
Aloha.
Very profound poetry.. It really all comes down to looking in our mirrors And reflecting the images we send out.. compassion starts as you so eloquently put it with ourselves.. Learning to forgive starts within..
Many thanks, I came via Bens reblog..
Blessings
Sue
Fabulous, thank you. Happy you found me via Ben Naga! Aloha.
Deep insightful poetic wisdom.
Affirmations in the hall of mirrors.
How would I try and convey these thought?
In a one line cliché, the buck stops here.
Leaving Essence on the sideline and all the comedic products.
The art work more is transparent but is very good._/\_
Aloha Jack, and thanks for taking the time to read and thoughtfully comment. My hall of mirrors metaphor is used to recognize that what I am putting out in the world does indeed return as an opportunity to enlarge my compassion. For me, it’s important not to leave my Essence, or essential self, on the sidelines, but to engage it always, which requires a fair amount of energy (being sensitive, vulnerable, open). Yet when I manage this, I must then regard what is ‘other’ as also myself, thus I am disinclined to judge harshly or forget my humanity. <3
Thanks for giving me the correct interpretation of your words, I agree what we put out does return. My misinterpretation was, we cannot blame our reflection. This prompted my cliché comment ‘the buck stops here.’ Then The capital in Essence I assumed it was referring to the cosmetic firm as cosmetics are used to hide many flaws in us. I think your writing is great and although I got it wrong it was a honest mistake not meant to distract from your writing in any way._/\_
I love your interpretation! As we usually can’t often ask poets just what their meaning is, I’m happy you shared your takeaway with me. Thank you! 🙂