I was there for the moment
The Eros of
Sweaty hands
And dirty words
Before the angels
Came for the daughters of men
When
There was still but pure nectar rivers
And
Sweet harmonies
Did clothe me
With a certain radiance
After that moment
Dashed was I
Relegated to ambiguity
To a lost desert and
Unspoken scorn
The heart does choke on days like this one
The day another reminder
That we fought in the trenches
And on the beaches
But to save our lives
Surrendered to defeat
Surrendered to rifles aimed
To have only known that we’d poison
The very loves
That could have been
Better had they rested
With just my plotted marker
In a green spring garden
Full of dew and the mists of God
In the gift of dreaming
Through the great Om’s rainbow
Of distant travels sought
The company of tulips awakening
And under the blue star night
The lull of the mouth harp share
The warmth
When kindreds meet
Some days
I disappear completely
Like a Wednesday night Sauvignon
Or a Thursday night cuddle
I hide within my fox hole;
Subsisting on bitter berries and saltine sandwiches
The war is still raging on
I can hear it
Can I?
~
Those days
I feel a deep loneliness
One that I would fight
If I knew where the beachheads were
And what time to show up
But instead I sharpen my knife until it dulls
And I sleep away the needs
Of my birthright
~
Many days
Are like puzzle pieces
That get forever lost
Sucked up by the vacuum
Eaten by the mouse
~
Life goes on with or without me
And some days I am brave
And I journey with life
For a time…
~
But some days
Those days
Many days
I’m hidden within myself
Bartering for a miracle
Begging for a dream

It seems that a lot of our culture is divided into black and white opinions regarding morality. Morals seem to be a stress point for people of all creeds. Most people give up in exasperation and end up saying, “I am a good person, I don’t need to be told what to do.”
In my blog today I want to say that such a statement isn’t fair off from the truth — though I will interpret it in a different way. You don’t need to be told what to do because you have innate wisdom within you. You have your own inner Buddha!
The precepts of virtue within Buddhism are helpful reassurances and a loose guide to developing your own system of morality.
The first level of virtue is called non-harming / limiting harm. It really means, that as far as is within your power, you won’t harm another sentient being.
1. Don’t kill
2. Don’t steal
3. Don’t speak untruthfully
4. Don’t use sex in a way that harms another
5. Don’t do things that decrease your awakening and awareness (drugs)
So the first level is to limit harm. There is a true story of a monastery that was infested with roaches and the roaches were in the food and it was really out of control. The monks asked their teacher if they could possibly kill the roaches. The teacher smiled and said, “I’m not going to tell you.” What is meant by this is that these are guidelines and there may be exceptions to the rules. No black and whites!
The next level is to develop compassion for other sentient beings.
1. Not killing becomes actions that save others, actions that promote life
2. Not stealing becomes being generous and charitable
3. Not speaking untruthfully becomes speaking things that nourish another’s soul
4. Not harming with sex becomes valuing Eros and intimacy in a sacred way
The last point on virtue is that we need to do things that nourish our own Spirit and connect us to our inner Buddha.
I hope you learned something from this brief post on Buddhist morals and virtue. I hope you’ll seek the Tao and Dharma within yourself and within the world in which we live.
Namaste
Napalm from the sky
Burns trees
Never to become books
Tragic
~
Families conspire
What to do with the old and sick?
They will only slow us down
~
An old man sits at his three story high window watching
Broken back
Drinks the last of his chardonnay
and smokes a final cigarette
~
Enough of this revolving door revolution
Enough of MY suffering
No one is coming to save me
I just can’t keep giving a damn
~
Years of wishing
Praying –
For a soft pillow dream
From which he would not wake up
Unanswered
~
Years of pain stacking on pain
Pain on pain
Like layers of cheap paint on walls
Oh so heavy
And claustrophobic
~
Now a tidy end
Today was the day
He bought his first bullet for the gun
~
“Finally”
He thought
“The end…”
Stop chasing down dreams
With red faced resentment and aching hearted disappoints
Catch your breath and stand tall
Gain a footing to call your own
View the valley from the mountain’s peak
Close your eyes and
Feel your hair dancing in the breeze
Courageous, Beautiful, Worthy
The wind comes and for the first time
Let the dreams
Chase you
A dry white wine
Such a treat for this isolato
~
Venturing out into the rainy season
I brought wood for fires in the night
~
The forest was a kind place
Of kind spirits and mischievous lore
In grace
Many a dream
I had there
~
Traversing swamplands
Let angels shine a light
Where there is thick fog
If I should tangle in devil roots
I might be pulled under
~
Coming to an emerald clear
Stone walls and iron age
~
Greetings I give to the world
To those who might listen
But once I shall appear
With many years apart
~
Perhaps a new quill
Perhaps some fresh parchment
~
But the revelations
Those are what to sell
~
In whose hands
I do not know
But in faith I’m guided
~
Back through the swamp
To where
I do not know
~
Dreams await me
the lunker sat in his place
in your closet, in your room
the hour of midnight gave him his name
being a negro he was camouflaged
to the white wash of suburban decor
and in the darkness
sitting idly
you might only see the blink
of the white and red
of his eyes
~
he subsisted on the nectar of young girl’s wishes
the sweet fairies they invited
he would trap like moths
and eat until his blood
was laced with cane sugar froth
~
he watched you sleep and
reached into your dreams
but he never moved
nor molested a soul
~
midnight just was
and for a purpose unknown
until the day of the bells
he shall remain