87. Eternally Now

His wandering mind
Squandered his living time
Darting here
There
Anywhere
Everywhere
Back and forth
Above and below
Round and round
But what he didn't know
Is that the eternal now
Was passing him by
Sigh...

86. To Burn

As the old man aged
He stayed engaged
He still burned to learn
Why bother he was asked
Surprised
Why ask he replied
I haven't died
Haven't you noticed
Everything changes
There's always something new to learn each day
That's why my beginner's mind
Yearns and burns
Otherwise
I'd just be cupboard food for a waiting worm
To live is to learn

85. Just look

Put away your books for a while
Be still
Smile
Calm your mind
Now just look
You'll see
You suffer needlessly
You'll see
Everything that arises passes away
You'll see
The stinging comes from the clinging
You'll see
The gasp comes from the grasp
So let go
Now look once more
You'll see
You're free

84. That Healing Feeling

His wounded heart just wouldn't heal
He strained with all his might to push away the pain
Anchored in his brain
Clenched fist tight in his body
Then one day he heard his heart say
You need to feel to heal
Breathe into the pain
Then breathe it out
When it returns again
Inhale
Exhale
Until the wound seals
And your heart heals

83. Outside In

There was once a loud time
When I allowed my mind to abuse me
Now I use it to peruse
The world outside of me
When I turn it outside in
I see an inner eye
I also spy an inner ear
And hear my thoughts loud and clear
Now and here
To ignore or hold dear

83. My Time

There's a right time for everything
I'm told
My time will come
In time
On time
When I'm old
Or
Before
If it's my turn to leave the fold
A time I hope to be bold
As I await my return to that timeless place
With many names
From where you and I came

82. Just Yield

A painful memory may feel real
But it's merely the past
Posing as the present
A momentary disturbance
In our reality distortion field
Just yield
The hurt won't last
If we let the imposter pass
And return to its proper place in the past

81.Side By Side

Exhausted
The traveller was about to collapse
I can't go on he gasped
He stopped
He dropped
There he laid
With his last breath
He took a long fond look
At the corpse he'd dragged
After it died
Hoping it would revive
He sighed
He cried
Then he died
Two corpses
Side by side
He just didn't know
How to let go

80. With or Without Thee

How do others need to be
Before I can be happy
If my happiness depends on thee
Sooner or later I'll be in misery
Now I know my happiness is my responsibility
Freeing you to be whom you are and want to be
And me to enjoy my journey
With or without thee

79. Now Aware

When I peeked into my mind the first time

I was shocked to find

A babbling brook

When I took a closer look

I saw streams of dreams
I was really shaken

When it dawned on me
I'd just awakened

Now aware
I watched my mind meander 

Here, there and everywhere

When my attention tether tightened

And grew taut
Now aware
I breathed a mindful breath
To remind myself
To remain awake

Instead of drifting off to sleep again
In an endless flow of roaming thought