Of the founding of things,
of many wounded starts
we seek to understand
how we are the way we are.
Of many faltered steps
is the journey done
and in these footfalls
life finds its mark.
Were I stronger than I am,
would the way be smooth?
Have I left that undone
which cannot be remade?
Or shall I make the rough way mine,
and faltering though I may be
shall I mend the coarse unbroken
and free to found, to create, to begin?
This second poem is a result of me meditating on the nature of the tao. Taoism, like Christianity, is full of beautiful, profound paradoxes, and as someone who feels a leaning towards the mystical, the tao speaks to me of how reality really is. There is a oneness to life, and a great mystery as to the nature of that oneness. And I must confess that at least some of the ideas in this poem can be found in the Book of the Tao (Tao Teh Ching). Like all of us, I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Only the empty vessel can be filled
Only the unfurled sail can catch the wind
Only the open heart can love invade
Only the uncluttered mind can know the tao.
To know the unknowable is to cease from learning
To know the unknowable is to cease from striving
To know her is to flow like water
To know him is to remain like rock.
4 comments:
I have often come to pen the thoughts of my mind, and been unable to free myself in the confines of poetry. A man whom I respect and admire once told me that prose is merely sloppy poetry, and therefore, I am only a sloppy poet. I suppose we are all sloppy in our own right. And like you said, we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. I think that you did well, and it is admirable that you would write it out in public.
we are all of us in the gutters-- but some of us are looking at the stars.
I have often come to pen the thoughts of my mind, and been unable to free myself in the confines of poetry. A man whom I respect and admire once told me that prose is merely sloppy poetry, and therefore, I am only a sloppy poet. I suppose we are all sloppy in our own right. And like you said, we are all standing on the shoulders of giants. I think that you did well, and it is admirable that you would write it out in public.
we are all of us in the gutters-- but some of us are looking at the stars.
oops. i didn't want to do that twice. sorry. Tiff.
Thanks Tiff! Your comments are very encouraging. And you're a good writer. Quite the way with the words, especially in your comment on Smoking Jesus!
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