Ring of Salt

there's a storm out there,
where bodies prowl
over haunting shadows,
scrounging
for a flicker of light -
anything would do;
while deep inside
in a temple,
circled
by a ring of salt,
a lamp burns
unattended,
standing
in an eternal stillness
that feeds its bowels,
where a fire
gives birth
to itself,
preserved
in the salt of the earth.

Be Careful!

'Be careful!'
I hear voices,
sometimes inside,
sometimes outside -
a fearful anticipation,
an unwelcome arrival,
a harsh denial,
that jars the present
and pickles a spirit
that doesn't want to hide;
'be-care-full'
is the voice
I choose to hear -
one voice,
soft and firm,
for each step
into the magical darkness
that I pour myself into.

Madness

the world has a name
for everything
that is nameless
and formless;
a wild shot
piercing darkness,
to make sense
of the dark.

but darkness is not dark,
like wetness is not water.

and yet, madness
is the name given
to a wild
untamed heart,
drunk with
its own spirit,
so full of itself,
and an intense love
for all of life.

Imprisoned

locked in
by stone
walls
and iron
bars
that won't
give
dissolve
or bend;
trapped
in
straightjacket
reality,
fossilized
opinions,
choked
by eons
of toxic beliefs;
free spirits
screaming
to be let out,
to roam wild,
for they know
how to live
and die
free.

Space

a free spirit
trapped by
boundaries
walls
fences
rims
containers.

sometimes
bottomless
boundless
expanding
contracting
adjusting
folding
into myself.

sometimes
squeezed out
like the last dollop
of toothpaste
from an empty tube,
or a cockroach
scuttling away
into dark corners,
always on the move;

sometimes
lost in wild forests
hidden inside
a filigree leaf,
or swelling oceans
raging inside
dainty dewdrops,
in the unfolding
of a moment;

sometimes
caught in the hands
of the clock
turning
in the same way
day after day,
or choked under
a gentle shower
seeking to soothe
a steamy soul;

sometimes
I look for space
like that tiny
blade of grass
tunneling
its way out
towards the sun,
from under
a dull concrete slab;

sometimes
I long for that space -
a space
where I can
breathe free
through walls
and containers -
simply free
to be me.
always.

Listen

Passion

a sliver of green
peeps out from
the dull brown loam,
a buxom rose bud
is kissed open
by the warm winter sun,
a monarch butterfly
emerges from
its self-imposed prison,
passion -
the life-force,
bursts forth, unbridled,
from the depths within.

  

Old Age

in your trembling voice
and wrinkled ridges,
opaque glazed eyes
and unsteady trudges;
in your careful stoop
and unhurried gestures,
withered smile
and laboured overtures;
I see a little something -
nameless, still aflame, shining,
that melts my frozen heart
without even trying.

I am Unstoppable

You can cast your net
with flowery words,
you can drive me with rules
like a caged bird;
you can taunt me
with your cynical chatter,
you can build walls around me
with brick and mortar;
you can pierce me
with your cutting eyes,
you can hold me
with your unspoken lies;
you can consume every drop
that I have to give,
you can take away everything
that I hold to live;
you can rave and rant
and whisper stories,
of my craziness
and incessant worries;
you can call me names,
ignore or dismiss me,
you can step on me,
or like a doormat, use me;
but what you don't know
is what I am and can be;
you cannot hold me,
you cannot touch me;
for I have the wind
and water inside me;
I am unstoppable;
you cannot cork me;
for I am a free spirit rising,
and I am ruled by ME.

Blithe Spirit

you cannot be caged
O Blithe Spirit,
in claustrophobic spaces
of brown and green;
you cannot be held
in atoms of stardust,
or in dark sheaths
that have lost their sheen;
you cannot be owned
by heroes or villains,
and archived in obscure psalms;
you cannot be created,
ravaged or metamorphosed,
and engraved in stone or palm;
for you are the timeless,
nameless, blithe spirit,
unfolding through transient forms.

Free Spirit

a gilded bird
tears through
the crinkled silk,
setting fire
to the path
it seeks.

Puppets

surrender to
the spirit within -
let it move you,
let it become
every breath,
every word,
every thought,
every act,
as you take stage,
and come alive;
one more chance
to live your role,
to script your story,
and then,
without a word,
move on....

Expression

when I saw You at first,
I didn't know,
that your serene face
could have ripples so,
and then I saw
the bubbling spirit inside,
that was seeking form
to flow out and ride,
on waves that rise
from the ocean floor;
can love be bridled
when it has to flow?