Ere Dawn resumed her immemorial trust,
And vested earth with its hereditary fire,
A quiet ordinance, older far than light,
Passed through creation's unrecorded choir.
No seraph stirred.
No sceptre changed its hand.
Only possession loosed its last command.
The cedar kept its patriarchal shade;
The river held its testament to sea;
The stars maintained their sacerdotal watch,
Yet none rehearsed the grammar of the free.
Each thing fulfilled
Its undisputed part,
Without one covenant of "mine" at heart.
Then at the vesper table, long made holy
By homely fidelities no years could sever,
She brake the loaf, prepared the waiting bowl,
And reached to serve her absent love as ever.
Her hand grew still—
For love, at length made whole,
Could not distinguish giver from the bowl.
Then Light, divested of all need to shine,
Found every soul had always been its own.
A Bloody Tale
a vampire bat in the weeping willow tree
hanging upside down created an impasse
a fat faced full moon highlighted it
its beady eyes focused on my warm neck
in hopes it could get a taste of my sweet blood
I needed to deliver the brown leather satchel
with the Irish curio—a stolen sample
of the Blarney Stone tucked neatly inside
my way blocked by this flying mammal
I needed to distract it
my back pack contained a rare beef dumpling
for a snack while on my way
I pulled it out—some blood dripping from
its cold center
I tossed it to the side of the trail
mr. bat took the bait
I exhaled a sigh of relief and
resumed my trek. As I left
I heard a chirping sound behind me
I turned and saw the bat waving its webbed wing
in gratitude. I had to pass this way homeward
I hoped he would remember me
The world of street children got liberty
Lost their shyness behind the drapes of dark
Their moms busy for the next day's planning
A second innings of their play resumed
Hide and seek raising dust clouds from the ground
Hitting peers, falling down but no worries
When the drifting cloud curtains masked the moon
A deathly hush crammed the entire alley
Whistles and shouts of joy when it crawled out
Somehow, this view left me untainted joy
Place : 1 st
What to know
resumed control
to block
transit
effect.
gunboats
targeted
talking
shuttered the
close up
blackmail
is under control.
A breeze came my way
on a hot, sultry day
Declining to stay
on its way it was going
When stunned by a gesture
it returned... resumed blowing
For I had kneeled down to beg
amputated both legs…
Is there meaning in our most desperate acts?
Whatever you think, those are the facts
“He who has seen his true Self, which is innate, unborn, and incomprehensible, does not, if anything desired happens to him, become tainted. Being free from taint, he never performs any action. The man of self-restraint or the ascetic, therefore, is never bound.”
As one without a second, outside space-time,
as pure living light, we mirror God’s heartbeat,
at peace in the vast void betwixt bliss beat’s chime,
poised thus for eternity, feeling complete.
Complete freedom epitomises our state,
as divine light whose lustre does not abate,
ego cravings having been long since exhumed,
that breath by breath bliss ignition is resumed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The squirrel clung to icy bark,
whiskey-eyed, tail stiff as chalk~
barked through his chattering teeth:
Holy moly, I can’t feel my face degrees!
His acorns? Forgotten. Priorities?
Now strictly: Don’t become a popsicle.
The wind hissed back—Too late, too late—
while his whiskers crystallized at eight.
By noon, he’d thawed, resumed his scheming,
but still muttered, still unbelieving~
Weatherman LIED! Absolute disgrace.
Next time, I’m moving to OUTERSPACE.
We ooze love’s fragrance, we radiate God’s light
and yet we spend our life searching for ourself,
looking outside for the source of bliss delight,
failing to recognise the we are the Self.
Ceasing striving, if we choose to remain still,
the voids within our heart, in timeless time fill
and with ego in the bliss current subsumed,
bliss borne by God’s touch, is breath by breath resumed.
Once—when the silent Agent—ran—
Through Tubes of lawful Air—
We watched—from Rooms that held our breath—
And named it—an experimental —Death—
The Body—spoke in sudden Signs—
Of Grammar not our own—
It tugged—against the Promise land--
By Leather—and by Stone—
Across the Glass—a Figure stood—
So near—he shared the Night—
A Keeper—not of Time—but Words—
For Souls that lose their Light—
The Chest—forgot its ancient Task—
The Gasps—became a plea—
And Air—once thought a common thing—
Turned stern Theology—
No Cry was heard—yet Motion screamed—
In Muscles taught to Pray—
While a Witness learned—too late—how much
The Eye must give away—
And when the Room resumed its Law—
And Death was now—Complete—
We bore the Weight—of having seen—
What the Bible—doesn't Preach--
The ravages of war take their toll
Soldiers left out stranded on the field
Letters to loved ones half written
Much to read between the lines
Love affairs never to be resumed
Dreams aborted at the cost of peace
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Consciousness, be it formless or in form,
dwelling as light of Self is always free,
centred always in a benign bliss storm,
pure awareness unshackled from mind’s tree,
frolics in the vast vibrant void carefree.
Focus fixed on Self with ego exhumed,
with each breath, bliss ignition is resumed.
The dull day dashed quietly,
On track of bursting seconds,
When I met a sad broody hen,
In bizarre twist, she seemed anxious.
Alarmed; I stretched near swiftly,
Her growls stirred my soft pulse,
When two hawks briskly took off; then,
A brood; blacks, browns, rose from grass.
In despair, they chirped sharply,
She surged, sighed, resumed her chores,
At once, she saw several; missed one,
And fled the hostile field in disgrace.
At all she cursed the twins, fiercely,
For they, it's just but dusk snacks,
Rare in such a savannah, so stubborn,
A prey ceased even before a torn slice.
A fair fortune in absurd fragility,
How foul to dare steal her success,
The chicks too naive; but not inane,
To think it's better in the safety of shells.
My shaky waves saved the family,
Joyfully I leave; but still her loss,
Now an equivocal tie; who's to gain,
The grassland weaves its lowly issues.
Attached to outcomes, ego opaques light,
radiance of our true Self, veiled by mind,
demons of darkness, shrouding heart’s delight,
thought tentacles gripping us in their bind.
As both tormentor and the tormented,
being both the subject and the object,
we inhaled fragrance of love, bliss scented,
causing boundless rapture to rise unchecked.
Waking up in the dream by slowing thought,
with ego exhumed, bliss beats soon resumed,
whence soul imbibed love and light as it ought,
whereupon at our core, heart lotus bloomed.
Thought cessation, path to heart’s elation ~
In time stretched peace, is our meditation
Like a bolt,
a sad news arrived -
sent by her delinquent son
who had deserted home.
Her mother was concerned,
nervous and afraid;
her fear couldn't be allayed.
Reasons refused,
but she herself found a way:
remembered the soothsayer she knew,
changed her clothes,
rushed to him -
fear lingering, weak and shaky,
her sight blurred,
seeing nothing but the way.
The soothsayer performed the prayer,
invoking the deity,
told of the spirit
dwelling in her son -
but there was still a way.
He prescribed a ritual
to ward off the spirit
next day at his home
without fail.
She took a long breath,
somewhat relaxed,
paid the sooithsayer his fee.
Now better,
she resumed her household chores.
Just before we sleep,
if we dare to leap,
in as meld with space,
we can see God’s face.
For vaporised Self,
life flows by itself,
aflame and aglow,
in staid stillness slow.
Dwelling in the pause,
Self becomes the cause,
as eternal light,
birthing bliss delight.
With ego exhumed,
earth life is resumed,
as was meant to be,
joyous and carefree.
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