The Waking
/Here's something very true: we've got the whole world in our hands.
Can I prove that this is so? Maybe not. But for those of us who feel the transformative power of words in our hearts, perhaps it wouldn't take that much to lift veil that separates our skeptical minds from the Truth. Maybe, to find our proof, we might only need a meaningful, profound poem to unlock the parts within us that already Know, that already See. Here, I am not proposing that my own work will be such a key for you. Instead, I lovingly suggest that poetry practice - specifically ecstatic poetry practice - is one way to forge the keys yourself.
Here is a poem from Thirsty Camel that I called "The Waking." And like a lot of my writing, it doesn't just tell one tale. You'll hear words of love and words of cosmic curiosity, sure. For me, though, writing this poem was a part of my own waking. There is a big-ness to this human life, an immensity to this natural world, that I can scarcely even conceive. In fact, for me, it's the epitome of wonder. It's a wonder so incredibly grand that Spirit itself called me to put pen to paper. This is the practice of devotion-in-writing.
We've got the whole world - the whole universe - at our fingertips. Let us wake up to love, then, on this cosmic landscape, and find our place among the stars.
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The Waking
i notice how often i write
about the Universe –
spinning, churning, whirling
limitless –
because the word
love
isn’t big enough by far
to encompass the vast expanse
of human loving
we tiny beings
riding on this rock
have access in our hearts
to something far greater
than all that can be seen by our eyes
and known by the power
of our sciences
but i tire of talks of
the Universe
for even it
from star to galaxy
to great cosmic web
dares not be considered
when i remember your skin
under my hands
and your voice
in my ear
so let us remember
that this story is not just ours
instead
we are on the grandest journey
of them all:
to learn to love
and to one day wake up and realize
that love is far larger
than the distance from human hearts
to the farthest star
in the night
sky
© 2015 Brandon Thompson