High-wire act of living
each day tottering
on a precipice and long fall –
miscalculations, small mistakes
and it all breaks
into a Humpty-Dumpty mess.

Stop

There is no high-wire.
A path winds through a field
of flowing grasses to each horizon
sunrise, long arc of day
sunset over the field
night begins again.

Calm

Forget many things about life
the wreckage of dreams
the delusion of anger.
Practice seeing movement
listen for all the whispers
between the quiet spaces.

Rest

What is there that has not been?
Celestial spirals in shades of light
shadows of darkness
holds you, moves with you
circling slow around the still point.

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Portland, Oregon – October 15, 2016

Ch. 6 of Thich Nhat Hanh’s, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching.  He writes of three aspects of “Shamatha” – stopping: Stopping, calming, resting.  “If we cannot stop, we cannot have insight.”