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..... poetry .....

 

 

"We Sat, and Breathed"

We sat, 
   and breathed . . . 
    
100 souls,
   gathered to hear our teacher speak
   after the weekly meditation. 
Most curious, 
   some indifferent, 
   a few desperate. 
Like any other week.
    
   Maybe . . . 

Our teacher started to speak, 
   but instead,
   simply observed 
   the breath of the group. 

His breath now,
   a long, subtle inhale, 
   followed by 
   a longer, subtler exhale.
Each containing a Knowingness
   that begged explanation, 
   but refused. 
Each invited the group's awareness
   to extend beyond 
   their individual capacity 
   to sense and feel . . . 
But to simply
   Be.

Ever so slowly, 
   Our energy coalesced into 
   a collective wave of breath, 
   like a forest gently sighing,
And belief,
   in the vast Atman of Experience.

Once again, 
   he began to speak, 
But instead 
   interrupted by the gentlest onset of rain, 
   ever so slowly at first,
   as if in our imagination. 
Then, coming to full fruition.

I watched 
   as the room expanded further — 
   the altar behind our teacher brightened, 
   the flowers demurred to their own beauty, 
   the house sandals conferred their importance — 
As if the very walls could no longer hold this 
   Silent Secret.
 
  Finally, our teacher spoke and said, 
   
   So . . . 


 

December, 2019

   

 


     

 

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©2019, Michael Smolens