Tag: love

sequel

.Reading time 1 minute.
when we dance
the mountains sing inside us
and we bloom
a riot of wild flowers

When writing the above several years ago, I was inspired by a specific experience of dancing outdoors in the countryside with a view of the mountains in the distance. It was an attempt to put into a few words, the sensation and experiential totality of dancing that encompasses body, music and song, place, culture, and heritage. We do in fact, give birth to worlds through the dancing body.

Last night I was thinking about what to share for this week’s blog post, and this passage came to me as apropos sequel to last week’s, “shall we dance?” What happens when we do dance? Particularly, when we dance together? Maybe we do indeed bring new and gentle worlds into being… we bloom, like wild flowers, a beautiful riot all over the sacred mountains.

shall we dance

.Reading time 1 minute.
An angel picked me off the floor
and whispered, 
softly into my ears:
Here is the flower of gratitude, my love, 
it is the most potent medicine
for healing
the body—with its particular heart and mind—
no matter how truly weary. 
Never mind fighting battles because
—there are no enemies—
healing is not a call to arms
healing is an embrace
with the light
with love
a dance beyond duality
into oneness 
where heaven is earth and earth is heaven

Opening my eyes
i saw 
this light
singing
And gave thanks
with love in my heart
and healing in my hands
I looked my angel in the eyes
and made a vow 
right then and right there
Arigato, Angel
i replied.
Shall we dance?

金継ぎ kintsugi

.Reading time 2 minutes.
       
       This heart 
       longing for you,
       breaks
       into a thousand pieces—
       I wouldn't lose one. 

       ~Izumi Shikibu (974-1034)

Recently, the traditional Japanese art of repairing broken ceramics with a mixture of lacquer and powdered gold has become quite well known in the internetosphere. We can even buy inexpensive kintsugi-kits online, making what was once rarefied, readily accessible to anyone. Of course authentic Japanese kintsugi with the use of real lacquer and gold does remain quite a rarefied art, but the spirit of kintsugi can be applied broadly through the use of other materials. So when my cat’s bowl—which I bought at a small shop on Kawaramachi street in Kyoto—was broken, I was grateful to have instant access to inexpensive kintsugi-kits!

But why kintsugi? Why not throw away the broken? What is the merit of holding onto broken pieces when there are plenty of new and beautiful replacements? Why fuss with the inconvenience of sticky glue and uncontrollable gold powder, and waiting 24 hours for it all to dry? The well known answer is the aesthetic quality and value which emerges when the totality of loss, brokenness, and healing is embraced fully. An object, rather than defective, is seen to deepen in qualitative beauty. The fractured lines are not faulty nor hidden—they emerge as new elements of design and expressiveness.

Perhaps that is why Izumi Shikibu’s poetry written some one thousand years ago remains with us still. She treasures every single one of the one thousand pieces of her broken heart, conveying the depth of her love and longing. In a few lines, Shikibu invokes the timeless and transcendent spirit of kintsugi.

If we likewise treasure one another and our relationships, indeed, if we truly cherish our own hearts, we may find within ourselves the rarefied and priceless beauty of kintsugi. We may discover that in the end, we are the gold.

edge

.Reading time less than 1 minute.
          perhaps
          it is at the edge 
          of this world
          where
          in one another
          we find home
          and together 
          with the wild birds
          run free

公案 kōan

.Reading time less than 1 minute.
dancing
i step into this
the stream of forever emerging
and of forever vanishing
what remains?

Kōan is a type of riddle or story used in Zen Buddhism designed to steer the practitioner out of and beyond the mind into direct realization. A famous example is, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” So I submit for your pleasure, a poem-koan. 🤓🖤
There is no right or wrong answer… What is yours? Mine is, um, hiding in plain sight?

surrender

.Reading time less than 1 minute.

A little poem for autumn-lovers, and lovers of autumn leaves and love🍁🍂❤️ 

                                             
                                                      this dance on the horizons
                                                                                   of time
                                                                     of all beginnings and endings
                                                                                                is aflame
                                                     in crimson windblown waves
                                                                       and i 
                                                       i surrender  deep
                                    into the dark and soft soil
                                                                of 
                                                                                  love

ONE

.Reading time 1 minute.
we are one
one love
one light & one shadow
one dance

                                 It is said that the illusion 
                 of separation 
                                                         leads to suffering, 
                           and that the realization 
                                                                        of oneness 
                                                                                                    leads to          peace.

世界人類が平和でありますように May peace prevail on earth Nahasdzáán Bikáági Táá axtsogóó Hózhǫ́ǫ́ dooleex برقرار باد صلح در سراسر جهان 세계인류의 평화가 이룩되도록 Go raibh síocháin ar domhain Хай буде мир людству у всьому світі Que la Paz Prevalezca En La Tierra Εύχομαι να Επικρατήσει η Ειρήνη στον Κόσμο உலகில் அமைதி நிலவட்டும்  Gum buadhaich sìth anns gach ceàrn dhe ‘n t-saoghal 我們祈禱世界人類的和平 Puisse la paix régner dans le monde ഭൂമിയിൽ സമാധാനം നിലനിൽക്കട്ടെ Да будет мир человечеству во всём мире Vallitkoon rauha maailmassa Àyǝʼǝtɨ anɨ mǝ tá mbɔɔnǝ kwɛrɨ nsɨe ntsɨm Che la pace regni sulla terra Megi friður ríkja á jörð पृथिव्यां शांति अस्तु Dünyada barış daim olsun රී ලංකාවේ සාමය පවතීවා Niech ludzkość świata żyje w pokoju Che la pace regni sulla terra Даян дэлхий энх амгалан байг Tiqsimuyupi allin kawsay kachun Wo’ wa’hwa la ma’ka a’kan u’num’we Nguyện xin hòa bình đến với toàn thể nhân loại trên thế giới Tangnefedd ar y ddaear Alàáfíà fún gbogbo àgbáyé السلام للعالم أجمع Sana’y Manatili ang Kapayapáan sa Mundo ᎡᎶᎯᏃ ᏙᎯᏱ ᎨᏎᏍᏗ Ať mír vždy vládne na Zemi Няхай будзе мір чалавецтву ва ўсім свеце Måtte det være fred på jorden 🌏🌍🌎💟

blackness

.Reading time 1 minute.
the deepest shade of love is black
that unknowable depth
from which all creation comes—and ultimately returns
is the kindest love
unconditional   embracing   infinite
in black, there's every shade of grey
and white is taken in everywhere

in this moment
feel raven wings alight
and hear the midnight of winter solstice
they swirl an elemental vortex
folding into itself
the sharpest cut of diamond

and in the tender arms of blackness
even rainbows find reprieve 
from arching displays of color writ loudly in sky blue

and now somewhere far, far out in the distance nearby
lies a   black   panther
limbs resting softly on the dark belly of the earth
she stirs into the heart of all being
a power
the deepest shade 
of love

the gift

.Reading time less than 1 minute.
and stumbling along the seashore
she found in the round curves of a rock
her heart
Ah-ha! she exclaimed
Here is the perfect gift to give
my love
This heartrock warm in the sun
is my heart
my heart of eternal love
May the seasons spin round and round and around
and may the storms wail and rage and rage until 
they turn themselves
skyblue
Meanwhile my heart remains here
unchanged
on this seashore—on this woven red strand by dusk
and by dawn
dancing all the sparkles 
the light and the shadows
into one
into one timeless
one timeless and divine
love

house of love

.Reading time less than 1 minute.
in the black ink of sky          
stars dance   
toes dipped in glitter bodies draped in sheer silk    
swirling, arched, sweeping       
they scribe    
a new path across the milky way           
and ignite     
fire in this body burning   
a virgin light       
tumbled raw open and naked     
yet wrapped up in these angel arms             
i'm carried across the threshold   
into a new spiral of glittering galaxies     
into this dance                       
into this eternal           
house of love