Notes About The Poem

The Discipline of Do Nothing

(“Something From Nothing”, 2024, original encaustic)

In my youth I did my time
Doing strict religious discipline
A whole decade dedicated to mindfulness
And right livelihood.
And in the several decades since I’ve done
All that on and off again, from time to time.
But now my discipline is different
It’s the discipline of do-nothing
The wu wei of effortless action
More like mindlessness 
Than effortful mindfulness.
What does it involve? Nothing!
Too simple you say,
And that’s the point exactly!
Like a cloud drifting through an open sky
Neither born nor dying
Simply manifesting 
Into something
From nothing.

(9/16/26)
Copyright © | Year Posted 2026

Poem

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