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This poem and others are available in my book, Nothing Works: Meditations on Aikido, Buddhism, the Tao, Zen, and other inconsequential things.... Available thru Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites....Sorry for the plug, but I gottta fund my retirement... Try this link: www.nothing-works.com
Nothing ahead but darkness
With my headlights -- already
On high-beam -- probing, probing
My car bulleting into the dark
Fully confident of the road
Continuing on ahead -
At least as far as the headlights
Can reach, anyway...
Moving, yet steady guide markers
Pointing the way, a tunnel through the void
The car's ride smooth
Leather seats, cushions, and springs
Soaking up any small bumps
The wind whistling past the windshield
Invisible movement
The low hum and slight vibration
Of the big engine reassuring
An occasional bug splattering on the glass
The surrounding landscape invisible
But felt and sensed, nonetheless
The miles sliding by
The minutes, then hours, left behind
Road signs and the occasional billboard
Picked up by the headlights
Then quickly left behind, flashing past
After a while, it seems like the road
Is all there is and all that ever was
My destination seems unimportant
The journey all there is, never ending
As I plummet into darkness
Nothing like having
The pain beaten out of you
(Or into you, at first!)
Applied Aikido technique
After technique
After technique
Practice
After practice
Year
After year
Then, if you can still
Feel the pain
More severe training
Is required!
So some say
As uke, experiencing pain
Your power disappears
Your awareness enters the pain
And your focus is redirected
Till you are lost
Still, you seek out such
Blessful opportunities
Again and again
To add to the pain
Only then with complete
Absorption, relaxation
And redirection can you
Learn from and eventually
Overcome the pain
And gain from its lessons
It has been said
That heroism is the
brilliant triumph of the soul
over the flesh*
When we celebrate
Memorial Day
Or, Remembrance Day
What we usually remember
Though, is not the heroism
But the loss
The loss of family,
Friends, comrades-
in-battle -- all loved ones
Dearly loved, dearly missed
Glory-dazzled battles
Be damned!
To have our loved ones back
Is all that's really wanted!
Some of you may have noticed that the past few postings have been about war and battle and such, leading up to today's posting of Memorial Day. I hope that you will take some time, this Memorial Day weekend, to remember the original purpose behind this time and give a nod, however briefly, to our men and women in our military services and to all our veterans out there.
Please see the Forum discussion on "heroism".
*Henri Frederic Amiel: (27 September 1821 -- 11 May 1881) was a Swiss philosopher, poet and critic.
Tell me about the rain
Tell me about pain
And suffering and loss
Tell me about vultures
Pecking at carcasses
On the side of the road
Tell me about IEDs
And suicide bombers
Tell me about screaming
At the night sky
Your soul fractured
And on fire
Consuming itself
With grief and rage and fear
Tell me, and then
Maybe, I'll listen to you
I man the broken
Barricades of civilization
Three tours now
God I am weary!
The enemy has no mercy
Suicide bombers
Vie for paradise
We fight and fight
A damn PC-war
For love and country and gods
And corporate greed
Thanatos and eros
Compete while ghosts weep
I hang between earth and sky
In an imposed limbo
To face the truth
Is to embrace death
As all must under heaven
Yet, all I really think about
Is your sweet face
Will I ever go home again
And feel your touch?
Our warriors go forth
Upon our bidding
Duty bound
And come back scarred
And sometimes maimed
From battles fought
And comrades lost
In honorable combat
Pariahs or heroes
Their fates we decide
We can circle
The ancient campfire
And embrace our brethren
Home from the wars
Recognizing there is honor
If we honor them
Recognizing there is glory
If we glorify them
And that we can multiply the joy
And share the pain, of each
06-16-2013 01:51 PM 
