A Forgotten Childhood Practice

Sometimes you need it all

to start over again,

a new earth.

So you take, no, receive

one breath.

Then you remember,

this is the stream

of gratitude

that bathed us all

in the beginning.

So’ham.

The scentless nectar

that sweetens the rose

and desert sage alike,

invisible sap

that ripens all our faces

to ochre, mahogany,

ginger and fire.

So’ham.

No vow, no sacrifice required.

Just keep pouring the ghee

of attention

into the flame of your body.

What thrills distant stars?

The jolt of coming Om

to rest in your heart.

Which is surely what you relished

when you were very young,

your sadhana was being

just as you are,

you offered your flesh

into your flesh,

and woke up the sun.

Sometimes you need it all

to begin again.

So you listen and breathe,

take, no, receive,

So’ham.

There now, it's done,

and the world is new.

 

 

Photo by Laurent Berthier