As You Awaken

A poem from 'The Nectar Of This Breath'

As you awaken,
just before the mind
of yesterday falls

like a net of stones
behind your eye,

be weightless.

No story of the past
survives the ecstasy
of Presence.

How your soul looks in that mirror

when it sees itself!

What gets you out of bed,

dancing like a wild purple iris

in the breeze of your
next inhalation!

It doesn't matter at all

what you will do for a living today.

The priceless jewel is just living.

It doesn't matter at all

how much money
you will make today.

Your body is more precious
than sunlight.

Your sternum is beaten from finer gold.

Whether you feed the multitudes

or only wash the dishes

makes no difference at all.

What matters is to plunge

down the stem of

the meditation flower,

to follow the thunderbolt
in your backbone all

the way Om to silence,

and drop the terrible fairy tale

of last week's anger.

The mirage of sorrow vanishes
in the sky of your chest,
empty and blue.

Love doesn’t need a story.

Collage by Rashani Réa