Fierce Equanimity

Art by Leonor Fini

I know what I need.

Now . . . and . . . Now.

That is what matters!

Confusion doesn’t bother me. 

So, why do I travel the hazy unknown 

while gripping onto false assurances of certainty?

I dream of taking to sea in a seamless vessel,

grazing the fusion of water and sky and 

breathing in the ocean’s immensity.

Yet, I linger in the covert spaces

between beginning and ending,

between purpose and goal.

I resolve.

I journey. 

I flee. A random body on a premeditated ferry.

Where am I going?

Desire unlocks promises of consummation.

I wander inside my imagination.

I lose count of the hours,        

the days, the years.

Flight. 

Oh, and fantasy!

Come, now! Be present.

A shadow stalks the horizon.

A clock ticks on a cloud.

Here 

And now,

Time flees indignantly.

But, Oh, deceitful spirit, I say.

Beware! I, too, am insolence.

And, I am sovereign.

And, I am risen 

from this false dream—yours, 
not mine!

Confluence

Art by Dan-Ah Kim

I cannot tell you how or why.

I am sitting here in love 

with life and the world. 

Beyond.

Something else emerges. 

As if darkness were meeting light.

a ripple in one space resonates

throughout eternity

What are the parameters of

these false boundaries? What

am I too terrified to unleash?

Once again, my rapture

stretches out in every direction.

I falter… 

for one moment.

                            And.

                                     Tumble.

Wait.

I know what you’re thinking.

Don’t make assumptions.

Don’t say a word.

Just stay.

Bear witness.

Watch me tether

myself firmly to this ground.