Poetry

Shi. Poem, song, rythym. On the left of the symbol for poetry is the symbol for “words”. On the right is a phonetic, the symbol for “temple”. Poetry is worship with words.

Even in temples
Where residents vow never to talk,
And silence is worshipped,
There is sound.
There are songs.
There is poetry.

Memories incarnated,
Lifetimes pulled through a thousand minds,
Cadences beating time,
Rhymes connecting life,
Stanzas stacked like the generations.

Those who follow Tao write poetry,
Read poetry,
Live poetry,
And enter Tao through its lines.

Deng Ming Dao, Everyday Tao

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Mmm poetry… I loves me some good poetry! Some of my past poems can be found on my old website here. I haven’t written many new poems lately — something I need to start doing again. My favorite poem lately is I am becoming — it just so well describes where I am at in life.

Poetry has always affected me deeply. I write poems when I am in love, when I am distressed, when I am trying to reach out to people and they will not listen, when I want to tell someone something special and words simply won’t do. I love the rythym of poems, the various rhyming schemes and the simplicity of the haiku. Sometimes I like structured poems, sometimes simple prose.

So I think I will write a bit of a poem for today.

The Guardian

The guardian looks out to the west
Watching across the ocean
As the waves roll into the shore,
The gentle cove of this beach protected
By the bulk of his mountain base
And his watchful gaze.

The waves roll in gently here
To the crystal sands of this lovely place,
Gentle trade winds blow above
And the summer skies are clear and blue.
The sun sets off the far horizon
As I release the remains to the waves.

Here is your final resting place,
Where I have chosen to let you go,
In these islands you loved so well.
Where my father died, he rests forever,
My mother joins him now on this,
Their final journey together. Aloha.