Castles in the Sky

Sometimes I wake,
as if from a dream,
and see castles in the sky.

Sometimes I can touch them.

I had flown far afield,
chasing the tails of birds of paradise,
only to learn
that the kingdom of heaven is within you.

Haven’t the ancient sages said
that God may be found in every dark and dirty alleyway,
in the marketplace,
and upon the trodden trail,
blinded by the dust kicked up by centuries of wanderlust,
as well as upon the mountaintop,
where one peers just beyond
the hard-won horizon,
to witness present and future,
by alchemy, ignite.

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ABOUT A POEM A WEEK

Each week, to keep the creative juices flowing, I will write a poem. It will probably be a draft and require some additional love, so please be forgiving. I invite you to join me on this journey. I will try to publish the poem every Monday. It seems fitting to begin on Memorial Day.

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It’s the 25rd week of 2023.

Fun fact: On Sunday, June 15th, 1812, Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition (one of which was under the command of the Duke of Wellington) at the Battle of Waterloo.

My Head Was in a Box

My head was in a box,
upon a table
in a dark and dusty room.

Sweat stung my eyes,
and the air was thin
The serpent coiled about my neck,
tightened its noose—
constricting, constricting.

I called out to my broken body,
that tottered, like an abandoned farmhouse—
good for naught but tinder—
close upon a chair,
as if greedily waiting its evening meal
of slop and moldy bread.

“Set me free, you oaf! Set me free!”

My blind and blundering body,
clawed at the peeling paint
of the rickety table.
It pounded its fists and flailed
in a rage and in delirium,
until, by quite some accident,
it knocked the box over,
and out my head rolled,
like a genie from its bottle—
out the open door and into a field
of wildflowers.

The breeze upon my face.
The sun upon my eyes.
The open air—
I breathed deeply my freedom and thought,

The present moment is as close to eternity as one can get.

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ABOUT A POEM A WEEK

Each week, to keep the creative juices flowing, I will write a poem. It will probably be a draft and require some additional love, so please be forgiving. I invite you to join me on this journey. I will try to publish the poem every Monday. It seems fitting to begin on Memorial Day.

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It’s the 23rd week of 2023.

Fun fact: On June 6th, 1944, the Allied Forces began their invasion of Normandy, also known as D-Day.

The Self

You are not you,
when I say “you.”

I am not myself,
when I think “I.”

The Tao of which Lao Tzu wrote,
is not the real Tao.

“I think, therefore I am.”
But you are not the thinker,
whether you are or are not.

The river of thought will flow by you,
whether or not you sit on the riverbank,
and watch the river flow.

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ABOUT A POEM A WEEK

Each week, to keep the creative juices flowing, I will write a poem. It will probably be a draft and require some additional love, so please be forgiving. I invite you to join me on this journey. I will try to publish the poem every Monday. It seems fitting to begin on Memorial Day.

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It’s the 22nd week of 2023.

Fun fact: On May 29th, 1848, Wisconsin became the 30th state in the Union.