A New Day...

Poet to Poet 5-18-01

"The spirit moves, but not always upward." ~Roethke

Poet,
Life is a process. It is best
not
to stand
in its way.

What happens &;#8230; happens

What is &;#8230; is

Ours
is to learn
the mechanics
of dealing with this reality.

~

Dance
with existence
like you would dance
with a lover.

Find excitement
in the night.

Find romance.

Find philosophy
and jazz

Find an image
that will keep you safe, and away from the madness.

I
find
the image
of you
standing
before me
your ocean blue
eyes locked
in a gaze
with mine,

The room-
service
dishes
are scattered
around
the hotel room,
and we're
making ready
to touch
each others body.

(do you remember
these times, poet?
are they as special
to you? I think of them
often)

Mmmmmm

these images
save me
from this
mad, mad world, poet.

~
(pause)

Night
is an idea

Night
is a suggestion

Night
is an image
given
to a lover
in a candlelight room
with wine

Night
is a poem
with words
scattered
haphazardly
on a blues club's floor

Night
is a notion
to realize
a desire
until night
becomes
that desire
within

~

Reach
within yourself
and discover
your own set of truths,
your own set of values
and ideals &;#8230;

your own set of beliefs
on the movements
and the philosophies
of existence

~

Today
teaches
how to live
tomorrow

~

Awaken the dance
that decides
your fate.

Awaken
the wisdom
within you

Find
the peace
in the silence
around you

Don't
be
like those
who try to fight
their way through
that silence &;#8230;

or try to break
through that silence
with their liquor
or drugs

Don't
be like those
who fear
that silence &;#8230; and run.

There is wisdom
in that silence.

There is dance
in that silence.

There are philosophies,
and poems,
and ideas
in that silence.

And there is a strange romance
that swirls
so close &;#8230;

Can you feel it
when you close you eyes in the candlelight?

Can you feel it,
with the wine, and the shadows, and the dances that are there?

Can you feel it,
between you and the poems &;#8230;
between you and the philosophies &;#8230;
between you and the ideas that exist in your mind &;#8230;

Can you feel it,
dripping down your body like sex &;#8230;
dripping down your body like oil &;#8230;
dripping down your body like liquid romance &;#8230;
liquid desire &;#8230;
liquid lust?

~

Dance
with existence.

Hold it
like you would hold
something sexual
in the night &;#8230;
something erotic &;#8230;
something forbidden &;#8230;
something taboo

~

We have
no friends

We have
no enemies.

We have
only
teachers

~

Find wisdom
in whatever form it appears.

~

Pay attention

and understand
from the start
that there'll be
no understanding &;#8230;

Understand
from the start
that spirituality
is not something separate
from your life.

It walks
hand in hand
down the path
with you.

Every moment
has two separate realities &;#8230; one physical / one
spiritual

Many choose to ignore the spiritual &;#8230;
but ignoring the spiritual
doesn't make
the spiritual
unreal,
or distant,
or mystical

Ignoring
the spiritual
makes one shallow
and one-dimensional &;#8230;

(Blows
against
existence &;#8230;
blows
against
the night &;#8230;
blows
against the philosophies
of night &;#8230; and the dances we do
together.)

~

find the center
of every moment

find
the perfect circle
within
each moment

find
the perfect thought,
the perfect image,
the perfect beginning &;#8230;

and then
begin.

~

I should close.

I'm sorry for these strange, twisting words.

The coffee shop
at the edge of the universe
is very philosophical this morning.

I'm lost
within its fog &;#8230;

within its cloudy, rainy atmosphere &;#8230;

within the grayness
of the painting
we all
become a part of
when we enter the coffee shop
at the edge of the universe &;#8230;

~

I will write again soon.
SAS