To Listen

In a circle of rhythm,
it is not
the most skillful players
who contribute the most;
it is those who listen
most deeply.

To listen
with open ears,
an open heart,
and an empty mind
is to join the flow
by following it,
to become a strong
and steady thread
within it,
to guide it,
without leading.

Touched by grace,
such a circle
becomes an organism,
a community of beings
with no leaders,
and no followers,
only co-creators.

Its song
becomes a mirror
of the song of nature,
self-organizing and brilliant,
like the emergent beauty
of a flock of birds,
painting their patterns
across the sky.