Beyond the world of discovery that music has been for me, there was always the bigger world, the universe of questions about what we’re a part of, how it works, and how to best fit into the larger whole.
My love of words, a fascination with scientific, philosophical, and spiritual inquiry, and a quiet determination to learn how to be a better human (and a happier man) have led me on a path of shaping my experience, breath by breath, into poems.
Here are some of them.
June 16, 2015
When a candle burns out,
where does the energy go?
Perhaps it’s flame
is not a thing,
but just the focus
of energy flowing.
When the flame is gone,
its energy is not lost,
but merely shifted
into the intangible.
Nothing, in fact,
is ever lost,
but simply changes form.
June 13, 2015
A life’s trajectory
is seldom arrow-straight
(as the mind would want),
but twisting
unpredictably,
in a Brownian dance.
Still, the mind cries for order,
seeking straight lines,
the arc of a story.
And so we build,
in memory’s gallery (halls),
a string of snapshots
that define ourselves
to ourselves.
Out of infinite moments,
only the most vivid,
charged with aliveness,
Sharp with anguish or bliss,
are held in the shrine of memory.
And mostly,
it is those we have loved,
with gratitude, with regret,
who give us these moments,
these signposts of connection,
poignant and enduring.
To look back,
through this trail of memory,
is to trace a path,
Like constellations
of loss and love,
each point a shining light,
as we have briefly touched
and been touched,
time and time again.
June 11, 2015
God
is the emergent intelligence
of the universe,
expressed everywhere,
and always.
It is the spirit
that permeates
everything,
but is,
mostly,
beyond our understanding.
It is our gift, however,
to experience it,
from time to time,
in glimpses
that transcend our minds.
June 8, 2015
Warning:
Language is a mind-altering substance.
The habit of thinking is an addiction.
Be careful what you believe -
what you think, may become real,
for better, or worse.
June 6, 2015
If I am not the person
I have imagined myself to be,
then I am not the failure
he may have judged himself to be.
I am like the open sky,
clouds passing endlessly,
infinite with possibility.
June 5, 2015
My own Buddha statue
is a wisp of smoke,
a glint of light,
shining
diamond-like,
in my mind’s eye,
from the center of my heart.
June 3, 2015
Universal energy
is flowing freely through me,
bringing light and healing
to my life
and the lives around me.
May 26, 2015
Life is not safe.
Only the dead
are guaranteed safety.
To avoid risk,
day in and day out,
Is to court death
before its time.
It is the fear of death
(which is the fear of life),
not death itself,
that causes suffering.
May 16, 2015
Immune system,
mind,
emotions,
and spirit
are inseparable.
Whatever we believe
will heal us,
with all our heart,
probably will.