Thank you very much to all of you who shared your mindfulness-inspired poetry, in response to our request for submissions through our newsletter, The Raft.
Below is a selection of poems submitted.
Sitting quietly
Doing nothing
Spring comes
And the grass grows all by itself
- Jerome
Lying still
Breathing in, breathing out
Healthy cells grow all by themselves
I am free of cancer
My open eyes flood the world with light,
My open heart fills the world with love
With one sweep of my hand
Every star finds its own way home.
- Kakuji
A strong wind
The last leaf fell
Seeds waiting to sprout
Một cơn gió thổi qua
Chiếc lá cuối cùng rụng
Hạt giống đợi nảy mầm
- Minh
This morning
I suddenly realized
I am good enough
This is good enough
I don't have to be
more or different
It is just fine
to be who I am
And drink a cup of tea
in silence
- Edith
I listen intently to the whispering
but cannot feel.
Do they wonder
at the reality of loss
or laugh at our
human lack of vision?
I listen intently to the whispering
but cannot see.
Can I make sense
of the rustling leaves
or am I simply eavesdropping?
- David
Whispering
Looking out my bedroom window
I often wonder what the Cherry Tree
and the wind say to one another.
Do they lament the fragility
of the pink springtime flowers,
as they surf on currents
drifting to the ground?
I listen intently to the whispering
but cannot hear.
Do they laugh and joke
like old friends
and wish for old days
when life is remembered better?
and shown
for a moment
the secret
of life and death
and told in a whisper
the truth
of passing and beginning
Here
now
the flowers
some fading
some in full bloom
tomorrow's fruit
sare forming
the birds are in the trees
I am here
Walking
- Gary
Where the birds dream me.
Here where the birds
sing me back
from
a land of shadows
where the scent of rose
washes my face
and the yellow Iris
reaches out to me
as I step
slowly
by
Here I am dreamed
into being
and drawn
out of
my stupor