tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89218857692985099462024-03-08T15:16:16.265-08:00Intrepid PoetryWill Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-47857227594906030062007-12-08T11:48:00.000-08:002007-12-08T11:49:30.124-08:00Lemmings Teetering on the LedgeAt the top of a ten thousand foot ledge<br />The Zen advice is to step off the edge.<br /><br />Careening down the expressway at 65<br />Years of industrial sludge have paved the tarmac<br />Leaving carcasses by the wayside, festering:<br />Hulking slabs of garbage, steaming<br />Fogging up the rear view mirror.<br />The ghost towns of antiquated ways<br />Left behind in the profit margins;<br />The specter of life’s compost buried<br />By the mounds heaped up in clearing the way <br />For the high efficiency onramps of industry.<br /><br />Moving so fast it is hard to notice the details<br />The opportunities under every square foot blurred.<br />Eyes to the horizon, there’s no telling when we will get there<br />Or if there will be a pot of gold glistening when we do.<br />The sleepy-eyed children in the backseat are just waking <br />Grumbling softly, “Are we there yet?”<br />Miles and miles to go it looks:<br />When will we realize we can never get to the horizon—<br />Noticing how it always recedes into the distance?<br /><br />Like “lemmings packed into shiny metal boxes”<br />We blindly clamor to the front or fall back in line<br />Systematically conveyed forward between wall to wall images<br />Promises plastered onto the sides of every stackable thing<br />Placed on the shelves of convenience.<br />All of us now queued for the slaughter <br />Of each one’s pet complaint or discomfort<br />But unwilling to look behind and smell <br />The remains of the innocent lambs strapped into their carseats<br />Inheriting the future leftover <br />From the violent severance caused <br />By the collision against the natural order.<br /><br />Looking up, our feet stumble on the walkway<br />Nothing up there to swoop down and retrieve us from the wreckage.<br />Looking down, the precipitous plummet causes paralysis<br />—There is no bottom.<br />Looking ahead with the blinders on is just what we are already doing.<br /><br />Just as at the beginning of time, the fall is inevitable:<br />Then, as now, madly beating in your chest, with all your heart place your foot forward . . .Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-61731124786113908282007-02-12T16:23:00.001-08:002007-02-13T18:06:16.798-08:00Hard & SoftSoft without hard--<br />Like a mosquito on an iron bull:<br />Impossible to penetrate the mystery.<br /><br />Hard without soft--<br />A torpedo on a mission:<br />Seeking to obliterate surface vessels.<br /><br />Neither posture proficient alone.<br /><br />Hard within the soft:<br />An iron fist in a velvet glove<br />Unyielding but plush<br />—Getting closer but not yet thoroughly cooked,<br />The pit within the peach hurts if you bite too deep.<br /><br />Hard and soft refined together<br />The base transformed into gold:<br />So malleable it spreads across the entire surface<br />So dense it plumbs the very depths.<br />—Appears perfect, but remains indigestible<br />The same ingot before and after traversing the intestines<br />Its shape dependent on the designs of the alchemist.<br /><br />The marrow in the bones has always been juicy soft<br />Once it cracks open in the stewpot<br />The marrow spills out into every nook and cranny<br />Infusing the entire dish with its soft buttery flavor.<br />The hard bone, no longer necessary, discarded before serving others.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-35726154471375829972007-01-08T19:18:00.000-08:002007-01-08T19:51:04.825-08:00Alchemical ZenConstructing the Furnace:<br /><br />To turn this base material into something glorious is an amazing feat<br />When lead is pulverized and exposed to air it bursts into flame<br />The dense element of your earthly body is the heaviest substance in the universe<br />It collapses into itself like a black hole<br />Collecting the dull ingredients necessary for the next <br />Big bang of consciousness.<br /><br />Mash your lotus legs like herbs in a mortar<br />When the pain bursts into flame fan it gently with a constant air supply<br />Feed the secret fire below with seamless vigilance.<br />The ashes drop to the pelvic floor, accumulating in the perineum:<br />Collecting the ashes together, start the process here.<br />Just above is the primary crucible of transformation.<br />A hermetically-sealed pressure cooker,<br />Where the magical potion is boiled clean, so<br />Keep your head screwed on tight!<br />Downcast eyes and a lowered chin keep the lid snug.<br />An unspeakable metamorphosis is taking place, so don’t say a word.<br />Simmer the mixture all day and all night<br />For days on end, for the heartiest, complex flavor.<br />Don’t peak in just yet or let out any steam, for you’ll spoil the entire brew.<br /><br />At a surprising moment:<br />At an unprescribed certain time<br />When all else has failed, but before turning away,<br />Everything changes: the opposites align, step through each other, and exchange places<br />The triangle is inverted: the liquid flames blazing water.<br />What you thought was outside is in, and inside out.<br /><br />Solve et Coagula (Dissolve and Coagulate):<br /><br />Like a cube of salt dropped into the great sea of awareness<br />The body sinks to the bottom while it dissolves and disperses.<br />When the form vanishes from sight<br />A new substance congeals, fixed solid within the volatile fluid:<br />Nestled deep within the cresting waves <br />Like a duck far out to sea settling into the surges of a typhoon. <br />On the other side of the bottomless black darkness<br />A florid array of colors appears<br />Diverse and intricately bright, like a peacock feather<br />Transforming poison into rainbow light<br />The colors’ movement, modulated by the oscillating alignment,<br />Corresponds with specific spots along the band of awareness<br />Residing at the core of being.<br /><br />Too afraid that the tumultuous, overturning waves<br />Would break over my fragile identity <br />Washing it away forever, <br />The bottomless pain yanked back my courage <br />Like a choke chain, dividing my mind and body once again.<br />How much more can be suffered?<br />Resolve building in the throat, it<br />Burst through the crimping collar, splitting open the seams.<br />The lead anchor of my stubborn determination now<br />Dropping down to the bottom of pain—<br />The bottom comes up, painless--ethereal<br />Rising hydraulically by the impulse to actualize.<br />Reality returns to its former pristine state<br />Free of corruption, innocence never lost,<br />The untarnished luster reflected everywhere<br />Everything exquisitely clear and bright<br />Shining in the golden sunlight.<br />Has the body now changed?<br />Or has it never remained the same?<br /><br />Turned Back Into Earth:<br /><br />Stepping into infinite space<br />Beyond the edge of the universe,<br />Into the inconceivable realm beyond the sense gates<br />Where no one has tread before<br />The fearless stride . . . <br /><br />Steps back into myself—<br />All the way out is all the way in.<br /><br />Stepping out and stepping in—<br />In-stepping stepping out actually—<br />Step-by-step; each step never before taken <br />On a path with no destination.<br />Each sensational stride so familiar, yet so strange,<br />My misunderstanding so obvious now.<br />Every step into emptiness, it turns out<br />Opens up a complete brand new universe. <br /><br />Inside out now. coming<br />Mysteriously out from the heart central to me—<br />Where have I been hidden all this time—so well deceived?<br />Deep inside, underneath my fraudulent self—<br />(Manipulating everything for a little attention):<br />From that secret place nectar rises<br />Bursting forth in endless blossoms <br />From a within beyond reach <br /><br />The Philosopher’s Stone:<br /><br />The despised holy thing—all along it wasn’t hidden,<br />Spat out by everyone<br />The remedy feared as the poison.<br />All along just me<br />The tiniest, inconsequential thing<br />The mini-me at the heart<br />Abandoned so long ago<br />Steps forward to be enthroned<br />The king that turns everything touched <br />Back to Gold.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-15830769116045569382006-12-25T08:33:00.000-08:002006-12-25T08:40:44.928-08:00The Moon's DreamsThe moon dreams <br />On its course <br />Across the unending night:<br />The moon dreams <br />Your dreams<br />Until the dream <br />Is real.<br /><br />The moon’s dreaming <br />Configures <br />The shadowy contours <br />Of your life;<br />The moon’s beams <br />Illuminate <br />The dark night <br />Of your soul.<br /><br />Billions of years now <br />Since the big bang <br />Of this kalpa,<br />With eons of entropy <br />Between us and the source,<br />The tectonic forces of the One and the many<br />Have been rubbing together since the start<br />Forming a massive range of obstacles.<br /><br />The heat from that initial moment <br />Dispersed, we now find ourselves<br />Clinging, to a fragile balance<br />On an inconsequential planet <br />The third orbit around a minor fireball<br />Itself revolving <br />At a slow pace<br />On an outward arm <br />Of a mediocre galaxy<br />Billions of light years <br />Away from the center.<br /> <br />Only in the last blink <br />Of a galactic eye<br />Have we begun to sprout <br />From an unfathomable gestation period,<br />And we have barely taken root <br />In the ground of our being.<br /><br />The path home gets steeper, with more switchbacks<br />As the peaks rise from this elemental clash.<br />And at such an altitude, the light of the cosmic sun<br />Has trouble melting away <br />The frozen sediment<br />Settled over the original ground.<br />Given the perpetuity<br />Of this ancient, <br />Chilling truth<br />Only a little fluid<br />Is released during each thaw.<br />Our shallow roots,<br />Unstable in the sparse soil <br />Of this godforsaken region<br />Add just a thin ring of growth each season.<br /><br />Never before seen in the light of day<br />Phantasmic forms appear in the dark<br />Like crop circles in a formless field of possibility<br />The proving ground for evolving strains:<br />The gravitational pull of the moon <br />Draws out our precious awareness <br />Into the nether regions <br />Where no one has yet to look—culminating<br />In the next generation of the species<br />A neverending drama of succeeding acts<br />A distended dispersal of what had previously been collected<br />Galloping towards an unremarkable finale—<br />Such is the fulfillment of the many.<br /><br />But to flow with the tectonic tempo of unity <br />Requires a backwards step <br />Back through the heart of our sun<br />Sequentially backwards through cosmic events<br />A devolution through prior stages of being.<br /><br />You need to swallow the whole moon<br />Reduce its far-flung orbit <br />To the very center of your being<br />Wax and wane in accordance with conditions<br />And make its dreams your reality.<br />Take in its full weight,<br />Accept the gravity of all past deeds,<br />Even those by creatures with webbed feet and fangs,<br />When your bio-plasma was barely cellular<br />And your soul was formed of a more rarefied awareness.<br /><br />This dark night of the soul<br />Culminates in a dense magnetic core<br />Composed of alchemical elements<br />Congealed by agents of the moon.<br />A singular emptiness <br />Like the black hole at the heart of each galaxy<br />Draws everything back to one:<br />An otherwordly cosmic vacuum <br />Filling the bowels of intergalactic wormholes <br />Connecting your very being with all space and time.<br /><br />Darkly illuminated<br />The whole body invisibly lit up with no remainder<br />The branching streams flow out into the empty expanse, unseen:<br />No blooming, no culmination, no moments, nothing more—<br />And yet, even still, the countless stars appear<br />In every twinkling reflection <br />Of your deep-set eyes.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-7791551556893545122006-11-12T10:10:00.000-08:002006-11-12T18:18:34.966-08:00First Human InteractionThe world collapsing again<br />Into a dark cloud<br />One undifferentiated critical mass<br />Permeates the clarity<br />And suddenly the habit is pulverized, finally and forever<br />Hidden no more<br />The world blooms vividly<br />And the phenomena of the world <br />Speaks a new language<br />Displaying itself from a new angle<br />Mysteriously shrouded before.<br /><br />It was an inside job<br />How else could the thief gain access<br />Without the guardian of the gate <br />Providing the blueprints <br />He’d drawn up over all those years?<br />The entire structure<br />Foundation and all<br />Dismantled in a moment<br />With the precision<br />Of demolition experts.<br /><br />In the first human interaction<br />Trembling with uncertainty<br />A momentary Bodhisattva <br />Offers perfect assistance<br />Providing for each desire of the heart.<br /><br />Some would say,<br />It was just good customer service:<br />Experienced ones guiding those still looking.<br />But I know better:<br />This seamless transaction<br />Had no precedent.<br />Unrehearsed,<br />The entire universe <br />Reformed.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-91304747727778810972006-11-12T09:37:00.000-08:002006-11-12T09:38:57.624-08:00At the RaveGyrating bodies whirling<br />Twirling to the rhythmic force.<br />Liquid lights splashing<br />Rainbow colors over flesh.<br />Sonic depth charges sounding<br />Reverberating through the core. <br /><br />Coming<br />From out of the belly of Russia<br />Contorting wildly like a yogini gone mad,<br />Yanna, Goddess of shadows <br />Exhibits her bewitching skill.<br /><br />Entranced<br />Lured into the heart of the frenzy<br />Wild wanton desires take over.<br />Flesh and bone unbridled, deposing<br />Mechanical subjection to reason.<br /><br />The smoke obscures<br />The fire consumes<br />The chaos overwhelms<br />The descent is complete.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-21431609620313238632006-11-12T09:06:00.000-08:002006-11-12T09:07:23.693-08:00Melting the Ground of BeingThe ground frozen for so long<br />The souls of my feet finally thawing;<br />Many years before, the frigid venture<br />Zapped all the warmth from my being.<br />Putting my spirit foot down today<br />The corporeal soil flexes in response<br />An emissary flies in from the other side once again<br />As the finch returns to find its nest still perched above the door<br />So happy, this spring, it calls out in joy!Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-42144090589296104592006-11-12T08:55:00.000-08:002006-11-12T08:59:16.343-08:00Human ArchipelagoLanguage is only one island <br />In the human archipelago,<br />Stranded on this desert island<br />The current age longs desperately <br />For the only other island in view.<br /><br />Each islander a sole commentator <br />Making a mental inventory of experience<br />Mistaking this personal monologue for reality<br />But where is the audience?<br />If only<br />The right word or phrase <br />Could encapsulate it . . .<br />This whatever it all is,<br />Then maybe we’d all be saved.<br />The word made flesh, right?<br />Daily rations from the nearby island of Reason are sent over<br />Never enough to satisfy<br />Only enough to make the mind more ravenous and wild-eyed<br />Like a hungry ghost searching for more.<br /><br />Beyond the view<br />Of all the telescopes and microscopes<br />The other islands in the chain<br />Remain just below the horizon.<br />Entire civilizations,<br />Forgotten races,<br />Settled on them long ago<br />They may still be there.<br />These islands have little to do with the brain<br />Ruled by other organs of perception<br />They occupy the mysterious regions of the body<br />Vacated in the quest for assurances<br />A mass migration of awareness<br />Assembled in higher locations <br />Away from the untempered pull<br />Of our shimmering boundless reality.<br /><br />To this day<br />Emissaries arrive ashore<br />Unrecognized by most<br />Day and night they are ignored <br />Even with all their door knocking:<br />Explained away as aches and pains<br />Or quirks of brain chemistry<br />Quickly corralled by words<br />Phantoms with no substance.<br /><br />Some folks however have heard their call<br />For them a journey awaits <br />Over a rugged and dark sea <br />Full of tempests and tears<br />Back into the forgotten territory <br />Remembered, their limbs are amassed again<br />And filled to the brim<br />With a substance that understands no words<br />But knows everything else.<br /><br />From there <br />Beyond this human region<br />There are numberless island chains<br />Beckoning to us from the infinite expanse of Being.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8921885769298509946.post-79181957113610215572006-11-12T08:53:00.001-08:002006-11-12T09:45:25.770-08:00Base CampThis incarnation has set up base camp<br />Out here on the third arm of the milky way<br />Quadrillions of millions of miles<br />Away from the galactic center.<br /><br />From this outpost<br />On the fringes of the void<br />Instruments and gauges<br />Embedded in the five-limbed bio mass<br />Have been positioned <br />Observing specific developments<br />Measuring the character and dispositions<br />Of the dominant species <br />Manipulating this planet.<br /><br />A secret mission informs<br />The turbulent wave forms and mass movements<br />Virulently infecting and cascading through<br />The mind stream of the current age.<br />Dissonance replacing harmony<br />Commonism replacing proportion<br />Quantity over quality:<br />All hypnotized to the vibes<br />Of a small phosphorescent box<br />Suggestion filling in <br />The emptiness left hollow<br />By the departure of cosmic certainty<br />The gods having abandoned their station<br />Long ago.<br /><br />Temples made of steel<br />Do not last as long as temples of stone;<br />The rust penetrates the virtue<br />Established by the pilgrims<br />Who first settled in this region.<br />The corruption that has permeated<br />The axis of the core attraction<br />Has been magnetically polarized<br />Mysteriously misaligned<br />In coordination with the global imperative:<br />The directive unaltered <br />For every planetary transition<br />From one evolutionary form to another.<br /><br />The transit authority<br />Guides the subterranean subterfuge<br />Through each stage<br />Of each successive age<br />With perfect precision.<br />With the proper coordinates aligned<br />The megalithic tapestry<br />Will reverberate again<br />Tuning in the synchronous sounds<br />Of the universal overture.Will Stevensenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14598999381278616571noreply@blogger.com0