MothwingBlog nature-art-poetry

so this is how it goes between us
these channels entwine

this poem--
if you read it from the page
you find you hear my voice inside
the moment
you start to get my drift

right now
if you hear me speak these words
if you see me say them
if you read my voice
for further meaning
and find it

echoed feeling
shock of recognition
rebounds like sonar
to the dark glowing screen
of my heart

i image you from across
the spinning galaxy of the room

at last
this is where we meet
in the infinite space
between the lines
in the field
where visions
dance

~~~~~~~~~~~

hi--
to follow up
on what I was saying about writing --
i find i approach each new poem
as if it were an expedition
into the deepest reaches of an experience
knowing that the process of writing it
will change me as surely
as the original experience did
only perhaps more vividly and consciously
and that each performance of the piece
will likely put me through many changes
yet again

that's what's so crazy about performing poetry
--it's like riding a bike or surfing -- a wild ride
on which the ground can shift beneath you
the walls expand and the room explode around you
as you drag everybody within earshot
into your own private dreamworld
where your intuition reflects
their own inner lives to them
so instinctively that everyone
charmed like a snake
leaves body behind
for little excursions into the infinite
on the wings of YOUR shared experience
swept by the current of your shamanic intent

-- at least
that's what the BEST poetry does
--it's dizzying stuff

the other night
you held the audience in the palm of your hand
seeming totally unfazed by the sorcery
you were working with your voice
the narrative thread of your stories
leading everyone -- including me
into the sacred realm of hushed revelation

-- endless thanks from your biggest fan

~~~~~~~~~~~

this thing we do --
under open sky or cafe' light

this thing we share --
these thoughts and yearnings
that stir these dreams
that focus these visions
that ignite
these indelible memories

aloud --
we dare deal
in emotional friction
far-flung abstractions
expressive diction
subversive reactions

by this simple testimony --
we storm
the ragged ramparts
of forgotten conviction
call out
in hard won freedom
to expansive dimensions
and intimate centers
of private revelation
to verify and ratify
the unity
we cannot help
but share

to dare
to breathe the word
of self in all
and all in self

to embrace the field
to fill the room
wash over the city
embody the woods
engulf the infinite sky
and all the circling stars

to break
with every vestige
of unconscious motivation
to tear the veil
of self-deception
spotlight every shadow
of petulant reluctance
and blind resistance

to shatter the idol
of delusion
superstition
self-annihilation
finding greatest inspiration
in arriving at
the shared breath of compassion --
the bottomless well
of native intuition

this thing we do --
this energetic
borderless thing
we become --
this hovering field
of charged thought
this deeply pondering thing
we dare admit --
these stories
these fables and allegories
these living
breathing poems
that carry on the breeze
through all the days ahead
in all
these open minds --
this loose talk
that leads us
to feel --
that cuts to the heart
and heals --
ringing with resonance
so real --

this thing we do

~~~~~~~~~~~