The Clear and Simple Way

Poems are meant to be written

in the silence of the soul

no matter how insane the din

of the distant world,

all poems spring from

tiny seeds germinating within

the long dark night of the soul

and the sweltering hot desert

of our existence

here on earth.

While the lotus is the symbol

of spiritual growth in the east,

give me the desert flower

that blooms in the heat of day

and survives the coldness of night.

Water is murky and cold

or warm and stagnant,

still the lotus grows up

through the mud into the light.

I prefer to stand alone

in the bright light of the desert

and let the sun burn all that is not me

away

leaving nothing but Reality.

I prefer to remain there

in the vast dangerous desert

so naked even my skin peels away

so free even I float away.

Looking down I see my bones

shining and white

as they never were when covered by skin

bleaching there in the noonday sun.

A rattlesnake crawls through

where my eyes used to be

and sits waiting for something

to transform its existence

from hunger to fullness.

And I turn to face the angels

who have always been there

and I turn to face the face of God

and recognize myself at last

and the blessed rain of peace

falls down

bringing eternal spring

and the color green

growing, glowing, transforming

me and everything

into the perfect flower of God.

Radiant and pure

the desert flower can endure

even the brightest light

even the coldest night.

For now, I am just here

walking the razor's edge

no matter how noisome the din

no matter how painful the insanity

of this lonely world,

I continue the journey within.

My eyes look upward

into the bright light of the sun

which hides nothing

and reveals everything

leaving me stripped and naked

to the bone

open and surrendered

to the final truth

there was never anything to defend,

nothing to protect,  

no one here at all

I was only a movie on a screen

projected by thoughts

which never belonged to the me

I thought I was.