Category: Poetry

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

One who experiences the unity of life

sees one’s own Self in all beings,

and all beings in one’s own Self,

and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

–Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VI, verse 29

Phenomena XXXII:  adapting


Mirages

Cellular Diversity

Oranismystically

we form and transform

the words and thoughts

building an understanding

a commonality

cells aligning

and recombining

Not by becoming

blind–deaf–dumb

but through sampling

our differences

does this creature

avoid being stillborn

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–June 20, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

The wise ones,

ever meditative and steadfastly persevering,

alone experience Nirvana,

the incomparable freedom from bondage.

–The Dhammapada, verse 23

Phenomena XXXI:  musing


Seeds

What if?

What if rainbows

came in textures

and kaleidoscopes

played with sound

What if feelings

were for wearing

and thoughts weighed

each a pound

Would hope appear upward

and love feel cerise?

What would be the taste of freedom?

What would be the scent of peace?

Could I pay my rent

in moonbeams

when the future

becomes our toy?

When hate and greed

are left behind

could I measure wealth

in joy?

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 26, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

if in day to day life you lead a good life,

honestly, with love, with compassion, with less selfishness,

then automatically it will lead to nirvana.

–Tenzin Gyatso (the fourteenth Dalai Lama),

from Religious Values and Human Society

Phenomena XXX: ephemeron


Searching for Fertile Ground

Leaving Nothing but Footsteps

I tread

lightly

though life

Soft footsteps

shaped like words

sown

like apple seeds

along the years

Applying color

like a butterfly’s wings

to attract the prey

Don’t be concerned

I will not harm you

I need only what allows

the next moment

and the hope that ideas

germinate

after I have passed

I have tread lightly

through life

and intend

to leave it lightly

as well

And maybe just

a little better

for my having

been here

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–April 11, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

He who seeks happiness

by hurting those who seek happiness

will never find happiness

–M. K. Gandhi, from his poem, Violence

Phenomena XXIX: helping


Beyond the End

Fifty-two

Keep your mouth closed

and embrace a simple life,

and you will live carefree

until the end of your days.

If you try to talk your way into a better life

there will be no end to your trouble

–from the Tao te Ching

–tr. by J. H. McDonald

I could embrace

a simpler life

might enjoy

being carefree

but…

…there would be people

some like me

and some not

with lives filled

with much concern

too many troubles

and my heart

is filled with care

Until they have

better lives

I must try

to talk the world

into a better way

Really

It’s no trouble

at all

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–March 30, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Everyone has the seed of awakening

and insight within his or her heart.

Let us help each other touch these seeds in ourselves

so that everyone can have the courage to speak out.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Phenomena XXVIII: planting


Relative Size

Small Moments

I am not John Chapman

But I’d be honored

if some of my words

were the seeds

for someone like him

If history

has taught me anything

it is that

it will not be me

who can spread those words

and the thoughts they express

It takes someone like you

rather than someone like me

All I can do is

interact with you

make a minor adjustment

in those small moments

that make change possible

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–June 6, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

For as long as space endures,

for as long as living beings remain,

until then may I too remain,

to dispel the misery of the world.

–Shantideva, The Bodhicaryavatara

(The Way of the Bodhisattva)

Phenomena XXVII: living


Spark

Short Circuit

Sapient spark

arc of life

light and heat

radiant energy

signifying something

So much potential

so often diminished

grounded through

selfishness and greed

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–February 4, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

All that we are is the result

of what we have thought:

it is founded on our thoughts,

it is made up of our thoughts.

If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought,

pain follows him, as the wheel follows

the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.

–Dhammapada, verse 1

Phenomena XXVI: transgressing


Bruise

Torture

How much

information

did you get

from the fly

after you picked off

its wings?

What intelligence

did you gain

from the butterfly

when you

crushed it

with water?

Did the squirrel

divulge secrets

concerning

a ticking bomb

as you

dissected it

Did you

move on

to people?

Knocking

the corners off

those

with too many

sandblasting

the surface

of those

too different

forcing into focus

the fuzzy people

is how some people

spend too much time

It’s a short step

from here to torture

Is it forward or back?

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–April 18, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Words have the power

to both destroy and heal.

When words are both true and kind,

they can change our world

–Siddhārtha Gautama

Phenomena XXV: words


Warp

The Cost of Speaking

So many

imagine they celebrate

the right to speak freely

while choosing

on the one hand

not to exercise

their ability to listen

closely and intently enough

to actually hear

and on the other hand

to avoid the responsibility

to respond

which ensures

that freedom

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–April 2, 2008

‘Twas the Night Before Veepmas…

‘Twas the night before Veepmas, when through Daily Kos

users were betting who Barack liked the most.

The diaries were screaming “pick this one or that!”

In hopes that Obama soon settles the spat;

The comments were nestled all snug on the page,

While visions of favorites became all the rage;

And Kos in his nightie said “please settle down,

you’ll love him or her or think they’re a clown.

There’s no pleasing all kossacks, and it doesn’t matter,

C’mon just be patient and stop with the clatter.”

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Resist the pleasures of life

And the desire to hurt

Till sorrows vanish.

–the Dhammapada

Phenomena XXIV: resisting


Game Pieces

Entropy

Born into a game

I never wished to play

Predestined to lose

while someone else

controls the dice

Not born a winner

Whole industries created

to enticed me into not

breaking even

Escape from the game

impossible

I seek (in vain?)

to avoid becoming a pawn

on someone else’s board

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–June 27, 2008

Muse in the Morning

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Muse in the Morning

Let no man ever take into consideration

whether a thing is pleasant or unpleasant.

The love of pleasure begets grief

and the dread of pain causes fear;

he who is free from the love of pleasure

and the dread of pain knows neither grief nor fear.

Paul Carus, Chapter XLVIII: The Dhammapda, verse 29

The Gospel of Buddha: Complied from Ancient Records

Phenomena XXIII: dreading


Sky Ensnared

Beaten Down

The world so heavy

he can’t look up

shoulders sag

under the weight

of too many last straws

back bent

from too much sorrow

leaden legs drag bloody feet

painfully forward

until collapse is imminent

Rise up?  How?

–Robyn Elaine Serven

–July 11, 2008

WAITING…..Waiting….waiting….

If my math is right, which is doubtful, 8 years equals 2,920 days. After the 2000 (s)election the Supreme Court sentenced us to 1460 days ( 4 years) of George “the torturer” Bush and his nefarious henchmen. Thus begun the Republican reign of Terror. The apparently masochistic American people, in a majority  just large enough to allow Rove’s Rat Fuckers carry the day, sentenced us to another 1460 days in november of 2004. Now like a prisoner scratching off the days on his cell wall, we are getting near the end of doing our time. Of being released from bondage. We are short timers now, about to be freed, but still with enough serious time left to not think about our day of deliverance too hard for fear of jinxing it somehow, for fear that our long awaited freedom will somehow, someway be denied.

80 days, “my friends,” 80 days until the election, 2 and a half months, less than a quarter of a year until the first milestone on our path to freedom. 80 days until we find out if we are finally paroled and then 78 more until we are truly free. That’s right 158 days until george Bush leaves office and rides into the sunset….hopefully hounded by not just his conscience, but by the Forces of Justice and the Hounds of Karma.

158 days….and at midnight tonight we are down to only 157!!! Five months and change. An eternity to wait while looking forward, but a mere sliver of time looking back over all the long dark minutes, hours, days, weeks months and years. There were times I thought the long dark days of madness would never end….but now finally, after all of the horrors of the Bush Eon,,,,,,we are within spitting distance of liberation. Of release. Of Freedom!

So though we most definitely DONT want to jinx it, (knock wood etc.) we all know that a really good party takes time to plan. And we have TWO parties to think about, one after election day….and then The Big One, Inauguration Day! It’s not too soon to start thinking about it, to start saving up the booze (and whatever) fund, think about ordering a cake and balloons, maybe even lay in some fireworks! But even that doesn’t seem like enough! What are your party plans? What can we do to really mark the end of an error, and celebrate VB Day?

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