life

Energy

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

With eyes closed

And the subtle reach of my fingertips

I sense the quivering air

Alive with energy.

I hover there

In the organ of my heart

Tasting the unseen frequency,

Intimately knowing

My brother the dragonfly

Aloft those same ethereal strands

And darting above the pool.

The pure white egret

Still on the strand,

Eying the bubbling surge

For silver

Is no less my brethren,

Nor the prey fish

Cool in the brine

And quick in the throng,

Nor too the ants scurrying indusrious.

I could make a fine list of kind:

Beast, vegetative form

And stone

And all would be kin to me,

Sensing alike

The charge-thrilling space

In vibration invisible,

A force to which we are all yoked,

Bodily bound,

Energetically impelled.

Where To Dwell?

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

You can dwell

In the world’s messy configuration

In the constant push and pull

Of competition,

In its hurts

And blame’s countless catalogues

Of responsibility

Reaching far too far back in time.

–

Or

–

Recognise that love is here,

The source and solution to it all:

Love in your being,

The very being of the world

And heavens inconceivable,

The being you are

When all else is stripped bare

And you are clean

As the baby you once were,

With your heart on fire

With truth unthought, unmade

And unblemished.

With A Sudden Thud

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

With a sudden thud

A robin

Hit the pane

And dropped.

It brought me from my chair

To cradle its tiny frame

In the cup of my hand.

I watched the last few moments

Of light in its eye

Before it faded away.

What is that light

So easily uncoupled

From the loose body still warm?

What intangible element

Glowed so fierce

Then dimmed over a long moment?

What miracle

This tiny death,

The being unsheathed

With but the stroke between a heartbeat

And the final fall

Of a red breast

That barely made it through a season.

Close Your Eyes

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

Close your eyes

And go naked to the love

Free in the centre of you.

–

This love

Knows nothing

But being alive

–

And the one nakedness

From which all things are.

Be in being

–

Where all duality

Is dissolved,

Where all that is fragmentary

–

Slips loose,

And even the one who might hold

Is dissolved.

–

Close your eyes

And go naked to the love,

The free being inside.

I Dwells There

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

All things are drawn

To the crucible of the heart:

None are immune

Or impartial to its force.

And there

The matter of it

Is dissolved,

Brought to equality

And equanimity

By love’s dominance.

All are relieved,

All are forgiven,

For I dwells there

And yet dwells elsewhere

In the same instant,

Covering the whole of it,

Every dimension

And all far reaches.

I, the lover and the loved,

I, the being being,

I, the one and all,

Star-bright and all consuming,

Dematerialising that which it touches.

Sweetest Infinite Being

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

What other life

Could I live

But yours,

The life in you:

Sweetest infinite being.

Is this praise,

To fall into your arms,

To release

Every objectified form

Of its obligation

To fulfil?

For it is surely madness

To look for love

Outside the source of self,

Overlooking the sweetness

For a wearisome search.

Only in you

Is gentle salve,

Only in you

Is satisfaction,

Only in you

Is happiness.

To this, I am devotional

For this great love for you

Is love in me:

There are not two loves,

Not me and not you,

Not two,

For in love

We are one infinite being.

A Bright New Day

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

Chittering wrens

Pick from the larder of cones

Clutched in the pine-brush

And absorb the awakening light.

Beneath, I sit and ponder

On the nature of being.

Some would speak of mankind

Separate from reality,

Somehow living above it all.

Yet, I am moved

Upon the turning of the world

In season’s gentle shift

Of early beginnings

And day pushed into night.

Surely this body,

As all walking free,

Feels the thrust of life

In the burst of the bud,

Unopened but profoundly expectant.

Surely all are moved

By the first warm breeze

Tickling the pine needles above.

Who is really alone

When life thrums

Through the body’s instrument,

When the very moon

Sways the water of our moods

And the constitution of our minds,

And new light shines,

Drawing us out

To sit absorbing

Like the first insect

Roused from hibernation’s

Torpid sleep?

Sometimes The Storm

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes the storm

Is turbulent

But when the gusts calm,

When the fearful thoughts

Settle down,

The love we find is serene,

Bright-eyed and beautiful.

All that was tumultuous

And all that raged

Was but a movement

In love’s dream,

A squall playing on the surface,

A temporary disturbance

On the facade of our lives,

Fleeting and momentary

But unable to touch the depth of us.

Chopping Winter Wood

~ distilledvoice ~ Leave a comment

Last night

Brought a frost,

A coating of crystalline white

Drying the air, stiffening every leaf,

Crisping every damp thing,

Stilling all life

But for the sparrows.

Into this

Plooms my breath,

Brought momentarily

From the invisible;

I feel wonder at the breadth

And reach

Of the ether if my being.

I select a log,

Choosing one with flawless grain,

Straight lines, unknotted,

Placing it upright.

I lift the axe, aim

Half heft and half let it fall.

If it is true

My kindling spilts with a snap

Akin to the most beautiful synchronicity,

The grain parting

As if only a thought’s worth

Cleaved it separate

And clean.

I cut more,

And while I swing my axe

And watch my basket fill

With rough cut pieces,

I listen to the sparrows

And the stillness,

Enjoying my breath

Realising wintery all about me.