RAW LOVE (AMOR FATI)

After coffee you can start from here.
Faint scents of bliss, and of destruction
Waft through the window, arouse. Almost
Fearless, you rise shivering, sail
Tenderly, boldly into your life.
It helps if you break clinch with yesterday,
Become lighter, more essential.

What happens next, what fusion with the
Day’s ordinary, is so much less
Your choice than you were taught. All you can
Do, really, is try to keep your heart
Open, your mind curious, your soul
In awe. You fall in love with the world,
Into its rhythms. Your heartstrings sigh
In contentment. Life’s exultation,
Its human pain, become your own. On
A good day those whom you must love, each
In their own way, laugh and weep with you.

At evening, there is time for reflection.
You fall back, rue your brokenness, review
The costs of living and who shall bear them
Into the night. Offer them up. Hone
Your craft. Vow to cultivate compassion.
Honor truth and kindness. Look ahead,
But do not think you are the Captain.

DREAMING

Sometimes, eyes closed
the big screen dark
shadow-shapes
move.
three a.m.
deserted cobbles
shining with rain,
an iron-wheeled
cart bears a clutter of
echoes from yesterday, overtures
from tomorrow, tethered
forever
in this
moment.

Slowly shedding its
wearies, the body
begins to fall away,
dissolve, ooze out,
flatten into an
unboundaried expanse,
become sea water only the
orifices remaining
palpable, sentient, breathing
barely worth the effort.

Space complies, aligns,
conspires to bring the outside
in, noises integrate, the
click of a latch a pistol
someone's moan a warning
the tide at neap.

Finally, the observer
surrenders. I feel so alive
I can hardly sleep.

WHAT DOES LOVE LOOK LIKE?

Unexpected thoughtfulness.
Patience, unreserved.
An unnecessary smile.
Elation unrestrainable.

Listening well.
Creating sanctuary
Without judgment.
Holding, tenderly.
Exercised restraint.

Steadfast commitment.
The courage of sacrifice.
Cherishing the sacred.
At every turn, beloved,

Your face reappears, your
Voice echoes, your reflections
Bedazzle. Whenever, I tune in,
I am lost. I am complete.

Poems from Living from Here