Tavern of Awakening (New Book Release June 28, 2024)

Title poem from the new bilingual book, 'Tavern of Awakening,' in English and German, released June 28, 2024: LINK

I got bored with spiritual practices.

Inhale counting 4, hold 2, exhale 6.

I did this in first grade arithmetic.
Why not just dive into zero?

I can’t even lie in Corpse pose anymore.

Maybe there's a Coyote posture,

or a Wounded Raven asana.
That bronze yogini in her bikini's

been sitting in Full Lotus over an hour.
She's still smiling: did she get a better mantra?

On your inbreath think, "breathing in,”

on your outbreath, "breathing out,"

but why not think, "My grandmother

rides her red tricycle through golden atoms

of intergalactic chicken broth?"

So I took my complaints to the Master

who just laughed and said,

“When did you actually see me 

doing any of that crap?”

Then he threw his arm over my shoulder

and led me to the Tavern of Awakening,

where everyone gets instantly drunk

by practicing absolutely nothing.

Nobody knows who's giving the party, or why.

Lovers just show up with big empty cups
and dance in a mambo line all night,
swigging from a jug of stars whose light
won't arrive for a thousand years.

Just before dawn, he whispers in my ear,

"Don't call me Master anymore, call me Friend."

Then he gives me all the advice

I'll ever need, for free: "Honor your body,

it's a garden of ancient weddings.

Christ kisses Magdalene here,

where your rib is missing.

Be a flute at Krishna’s lips,

he’ll breathe music through you.

And when you bow, bow to your own heart:

its pulse is the hum inside all names of God.

Now take off your shoes,

walk softly over the earth,

and pulverize diamonds with your whirling."

Listen to this poem HERE.