Dharmic Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

1967

Swallowing
lightning
Teasing 
the bear
Dharmic
illusions
Circling
a square

Trapping
a rainbow
Embracing
the clowns
Rewriting
language
Up
getting down

Stripping
the moment
Wishes
that fly
Summer
of love
Timeless
 goodbyes 

Alice 
returning
Virtuous
sin
Lost
in the rhythms 
Buried 
—within


(The New Room: September, 2023)

Ways of a Spiritual Teacher

When a younger woman I
yearned for someone wise,
My egocentric brain a-fluster,
Show me wise, show me luster.
 
Found the one that bore your name, Sir,
though Ma’am I would’ve preferred.
Placed so high giraffes can’t reach.
Prior life, Bam! in its tracks with a screech.

Changed my name and made it truth.
Gave my boys their names as youths.
Your lessons hard as black and blue
the Saturn teacher for me was you.

Eventually though I came to view
no news as good news that came from you..
Difficult path, this Dharmic way
took your say more than my own way to play.

Abandoned myself yet again at your feet
but the best thing you gave to me,
gave back in silence that innocence key
that trauma had slapped back through history.

Not ok to be weak, nor ok to be meek
Know-it-all ego shouts more than it speaks
The key, in silent looks askance
Beginner’s Mind, half-dead, we dance.

What Are the Roots That Clutch

yet the people rebelled against me
in the wilderness locusts and wild honey
he poured out his wrath on them
yet i did what would keep it
from profaned in the eyes
of the fighting nations
do not follow the idols of your ancestors
the sacred river flowing dirt
remnants of burnt carcass
yellow flowers merging with clotted blood
naked sanyasis dancing in the charnel ground
post mortem rituals ego transcending
tantric liturgy molding the mind and desposition
prayer beads, flower pujas ,yajna ,mortification
of the rotten flesh, summer solstice
esoteric dharmic traditions
archetypal liminality surface
chthonic dieties dragging
will you defile yourself
what are the roots that clutch
what branches grow out of serpents


A Little Ration

Heat my heart I hear a hero
this soul soothed, stilled, and silenced
golden, growth, gave me a guru
within, wild, waiting to whisper
I inclined, initiate impossible
imagine infinite isn't so infamous
IMHO SMH serves no justice
TKO LOL no need omega
delighted to deliver dharmic direction
self-appointed steward of selfless
practiced not perfect, positive portions
critical for compassionate connections
we, world, will win, with unity
culture continues to counter crosses
mediated meeting my middles merciful
If you think you know then answers pass by
not one mind built this vision
landmine lands filled with landfills
minus minding multiple menaces
covet care cause its a rare case
corporate ladder, or conscious staircase
choices chastised, for coursing courageous
caring contagious, counting on cowards
evils aired aren't left faceless
sights for sure are sore from wayside
be the change to see a day is seized
stay cold-hearted and this place will freeze

Smile Once Again

If I could see your heart smile once again 
Colors would return 
to my life in pen 
Sanction my karma as patina 
to the Golden Hen 
And join nature’s orchestra 
as its fife in the fen 

I would see the stars 
much more grandiose 
And demand the sweetest 
flowers go unpicked 
I would not let 
my hubris get in the way 
To an end that only 
tragic flaws can predict 

We would clasp 
the enchantment 
surrounding us, 
never wishing 
the world away 
Saying little 
but talking a lot 
A higher authority 
presenting the dharmic way 

As two sweet peas 
in the glen 
Never let life 
take on the 
flavor of cayenne 
Or become the voice 
of the herdsmen 
Let that smile stay 
Never a fib 
I will say - 
and enjoy peace once again

Journey

Silent as night's presence with ancient peace I'm blessed
summertime,burning heat magnified stress
my brained tamed by '60s narcotic dreams
the key to time capsule memories

Spiritual void,trading city noise for quiet flowering plains and blue grass 
meadows lost in floral pedal 
camoflouge I detour and dodge its poison ivy
climbing lively
rolling hills where time kept still

Deaf silence night's present...nature's dharmic lessons

Concealed knee deep in verdant poppy fields 
and narcotic flowers...many kinds
where ripe orchards soured into wine
patient curiosity filled passing time

Slow night,poppies bloomed in pearl china moonlight
Pale stars cast broke through black overcast 
New visions...brief surreal psycotic doom
Spent day watching narcotic flowers bloom
gathering flowers for keeps
my hunger cured by an orchard's reap
until twilight stars littered summer's night far from home
tomorrow's journey...unknown


Morning Glory

First light's crystal bright 
the rooster clock strayed 
sleeping through summer days
Passing slow in my old age
Jewel eyes blinking wide
blurred blind,eyes wincing hide
imaginitive high,closed eyesight
safe from morning light's
glare and artificial air

Narcotic vision offers spiritual distance from an invisable 
world changing without notice , sometimes without rational motives

Heatwave summer beyond the horizon thunder
Skin burning yearning effervescient rain
cool gray days eased sunburn pain
and dire thirst 
everydays the same almost rehearsed
walking dirt road paths through verdant fields
passed summer's yeild
cleared my mind bothered by old age
immersed in introspective gaze
yearning yesterdays

This existential path is dharmic bliss
stayed stoned on '60s narcotics
glimpsed the otherside...died

Night's Secret

autumn morning journ
dharmic lessons learned
the past photographed bridging
here and now yet then it begins
the material and imaginitive blend
where in darkness secrets hide
unknown to you and I
twilight skies and mirroring blue
cranberry bogs morning dew
veiled by drifting fog are consumed
fog rising like steam
obstructs sunlight's crystal gleam
and blue irredescence 
its photographed past,rariety's its essence
autumn's gentle rain
nurtured thristing floral plains
and yonder wild meadows tamed
Dusk fades as eve's shade
kept secrets , its reason once unknown
yet this picture window the answer is shown

Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace