To enter into the realm of contemplation, one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a higher life.
-Thomas Merton
A CONTEMPLATIVE'S FIELD GUIDE
The heart doesn't know left from right.
Stick a compass in a heron's hand
and she'll ask you, why?
Direction only matters if you
don't know where you're going.
If Ikkyu is right, lost
is the only place to be.
𑁍𑁍𑁍
If I'm a mystic
then Elvis is a saint.
It takes a few rounds
to make a man a sage.
𑁍𑁍𑁍
I wonder how many songs
a bird never sings
because in the end
singing ain't survival.
I imagine the average soul
has a heart full of music.
Of course it's hard to sing
when the band forgets the tune.
𑁍𑁍𑁍
Take a look in the mirror
and imagine the face staring back
is a stranger.
Now, look again,
and tell me what you see:
a torrent of rain cutting
cliffs between her cheeks.