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.

 

******************

 

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

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