This pausing stuff ‘s not so easy.
The old patterns
of non-delay
fire away,
leaving me stuck on “go” even
when I push “stop”
and try to let
the system cool.
I guess I need rewiring,
an inside job
requiring
patience and time.
JDG
The Pathless Path
To walk the pathless path we have
only to pause
here at the gap
between our breaths
where there is neither in nor out
and see what’s there.
We then can step
into that space
where freedom lies and we unfold
and both the path
and we become
an open way.
JDG
Take In the Gold
Abundance is not required
to feast on life.
Bury your nose
in one blossom,
take in its golden scent with one
full breath, then turn
your eyes slowly
to a single
peach lying in an empty bowl
and once again
take in the gold
through open eyes.
JDG
Make of Me A Bowl
“Make of me a bowl
to catch the rain,” I prayed.
That bowl, simple
and translucent, was made;
the rain caught
and emptied.
Now at sunset,
on the empty bowl’s rim,
two dancers dance,
hands clasped, held high,
between them only
open, red sky.
The bowl ,
containing nothing now,
supports
the dancers and the dance.
JDG
This Year I Choose
This year I am choosing to focus on only one practice: to really get to know that space in me after a stimulus and before a response. I want to discover what that place is like and what thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations visit there. I want to sit with these thoughts, feelings, and body sensations and get to know them in their own right. Once I sense that they have said all they have to say, I will thank them and continue to wait until a clearing comes. And then? And then, I’ll see.
Even as I write this, the thoughts come: “You can’t do this after every single stimulus.” “You’ll never get anything done.” “This is going to slow everything way down.” The feelings are excitement edging toward anxiety. And the body sensations? My lower body is at rest, but I feel alot of agitation in the area of my heart and throat. I will sit with these and other visitors until a clearing comes or until I choose to say goodbye for a while with a promise to return if not to that particular stimulus to another one. My commitment is to the practice itself not to an outcome.
This year I choose.
Knock Me Over With A Feather
“Who knew?” we say when we’re surprised
but someone did
we can surmise
and even so
the fact remains, we did not know.
We had no clue,
no hint, no hunch,
not a glimmer
because, of course, we thought we knew,
thus failed to see
you coming with
that darn feather.
JDG
On Being’s Ground
What lies ahead we do not know.
What lies behind
we cannot see
entirely.
Yet to these dim and distant days,
we turn our eyes
while in our midst
the moment waits
and the ever-changing, changeless
now spreads its feast
on being’s ground
and bids us eat.
JDG
Pause for Refreshment
When things seize up and I seize on
and nothing seems
to break the spell,
when all I see
and feel and know grows small and tight
and what comes forth
makes everything
grow tighter still,
If then I learned to call time out
and take a breath,
space would be made
for fresher air.
JDG
Here I Stand and Pause and Ponder
Here I stand, Janus faced;
The door to this year closing,
The door to next year poised to open,
And I? I stand and pause and ponder.
The door swings slowly on its hinges.
I look back to where I’ve been
And ahead to where I’m about to go.
Standing here, I pause and ponder.
What is ending?
What is beginning?
What will I take with me
When I step across the threshold?
Here I stand and pause and ponder.
JDG
Nighttime Soliloquy
All night the words go on and on
inside my head
and from that perch
nag and harangue
and put up for review everything
I did and do
and also you
and all your ways
are gone over and over too
til morning comes
and brings relief
from all these beefs.
JDG
