Practicing Presence
Allow me to suggest a dog
a light, warm breeze
lifted the hair on my forearms
like a mother picking up her newborn child
where did my awareness come from?
last night’s still walk felt like a slog through a hot tub
while hundreds of tiny needles took samples of my blood
compare and contrast?
or, was it
the author who often
seeks wind on her bare skin
sweet memory
people, places, and ideas I invite inside
and hold?
When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There is nothing else to it. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
rabbits do not run
I can talk
yell even
and three sets of eyes watch each other
scene repeated
over and over
great stand offs
a wren chases a moth
Henny carries a plastic straw between her lips
reminding me of an actress from days gone by
cigarettes once were this
and now are that
long pink tongue
explores sugary heights clinging to a discarded can
Mountain Dew
I’d never really thought about the name before
does sugar grow on mountain tops?
squirrel scrambles four feet high
and swishes bushy tail as
eyes entice
catch me if you can!
If you want to practice presence,
might I suggest a dog?
Another gem, Gail! But don't ask me how your question about where sugar grows reminded me of a song from so very long ago: "Big Rock Candy Mountains." One verse goes, "In the Big Rock Candy Mountains, the cops have wooden legs. The bulldogs all have rubber teeth, and the hens lay soft-boiled eggs." Given that backdrop, it seems quite plausible that sugar could at least grow on those mountains! In my neck of the woods, sugar cane grows in south Florida, much to the detriment of Lake Okeechobee, an area that is just a smidgeon above sea level. Some would suggest the smidgeon is shrinking. ;) Harvesting used to be dangerous, backbreaking work. Machetes were used to hack down the cane stalks, which were then bundled and lugged on the backs of the workers. For me, I'd prefer to think the work is a lot easier on The Big Rock Candy Mountains! Code Red Mountain Dew?! Probably from hell... ;)
Finally, back to walking. In part thanks to your example and my own necessity. . "Solvitur ambulando" as you well know....loosely translated "It is solved by walking". I've found an imaginary walking friend as part of the walking equation for me is "silence" or rather escape from human generated noise. Remember "Wander Society"? Your quote on meditation reminded me of our friend K's view on meditation which comes closest to what it's all about for me. Posting it here rather than directly as I got started here:
"Meditation is total attention to whatever you are doing throughout the day. If you are putting on your tie, attend to it. If you are talking to somebody, pay complete attention. In attention, there is no centre as the ‘me’. Only when there is no attention, there is the formation and the structure of the self, from which all sorrow, pain and division arise. So meditation is this sense of total absence of the self. And when there is that attention, the mind becomes completely quiet, silent, without any pressure. That which is silent has vast space. Only then that which is nameless comes into being. Then life, all life, yours and another’s, all existence, becomes sacred, holy. This is the meaning of life and the meaning of meditation."