BE NO-ONE FANTASTICALLY

“Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading.
Take down the dulcimer.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” - RUMI

I remember the years I spent devouring Rumi with such fondness. I knew I had discovered the jewel in the mine, and the mine itself. And yet I understood so little of what he wrote. It didn’t stop me. I drenched myself in his love water. I bought a cassette tape of Coleman Barks translations and played it in my car driving to and from the wild Shamanic camp I was involved with. I read the books over and over until they were ragged and frayed.

Over time it was as if the essence of the truth he transmitted seeped into me, into my energy body, my cells, blood and whole body. I didn’t even notice at the time, but now I see it. And for that I am deeply grateful.

So in honor of that great and wise sage I offer you a few more of my poems. Don’t get me wrong, I do not associate what I do with Rumi. I am just inspired by such a beauty.

Love to your heart on this and every day.

There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

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The greatest gift you can give humanity 
Is to surrender your willfulness 
And become a servant of love
In your own unique way.

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Throw open the window
Of your heart
And let the fresh air of grace
Blow in like a cleansing breath
There is nothing to lose
But what has become stale and old.

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To know all things are temporary
Is not a simple understanding
You pick up and put down
Like a book of wisdom quotes.
It is a profound relationship
Rooted in awareness
That changes absolutely everything.

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how does it happen
that you awaken
from the dream?

is it through
your own efforts
and if you try
harder
it is more likely
to happen?

or is it grace,
that mysterious
brush stroke
that comes from the divine

understand this
drop all effort
and court grace.

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Don’t cling to an identity
It doesn’t describe you
It only imprisons you
Be no-one
Fantastically.

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When I realized
How catastrophic fear was
To my peace 
I decided to deal with it
Not by running from it
But by meeting it head on
And asking
"What do you really want with me?"

I discovered it wanted to come home to love.

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Those who cannot face themselves
Run away from that which they cannot face
In projecting this denial outwards
The shadow world is created
The greatest service we can offer the world
Is to stop turning away from ourselves
And end our contribution
To the shadowy world we experience

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Let your heart and soul
Blaze like the sun
In a dark sky
Unashamed and true.

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Don’t walk out on your true self
Your depth and tenderness
Vulnerability and intuition 
All that you are
When the veil is lifted
Don’t abandon that beauty again

But if you do
And you will
Don’t berate yourself
But simply return again and again
To your essence
This is devotion.

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Become resilient
Not through force
But through softening
Into the deepest knowing
That your inner essence
Cannot be harmed
No matter what happens.

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Santa Fe

If you want to support my poetry work please consider sponsoring me on Patreon. I am aiming and hoping (finally) to get a book out this year (oh I hope!) and release some audio recordings of my poems with music. It takes finances to make such things happen. You can pledge and donate as little or as much as you want. Thanks!