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* Poems To Teachers 45
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Teachers & Gurus POEMS TO TEACHERS
THEY WHO DID OUR MINDS IGNITE
They who did our minds ignite
with the blazing of their light
whose will enkindled
our control
with the power in their souls
They who torched our hearts
with the fires of their love
They are whether in the
body or freed...
with us now
.. helping us
we hear their whispers
through the fog wisps
their constant praise
as for us they pray
they still warm us
with their soul rays
to them now our cups we raise
(to our foremothers forefathers
saints gurus loved ones
friends all beings)
HALLOWED WHERE YOU STAND
From the Scottish highlands
to the low hills of Holland
from heights Himalayan
to desertdepths of Holy Land
there is no more hallowed
land
than that upon which you stand
FIRST THE LIGHTNING THEN THE THUNDER
First comes lightning
then comes thunder.
First may come the light
of a master
and then the Voice.
In aspiring to be like
Him or Her remind us to
send light and prayer
before we speak
BLANK SIGN
He went to vigils and
protests with a blank sign..
to allow viewers to
write their own thoughts
upon it
HERALD HEARD THE HARK
After many many ages
hearld heard his heark
Afer eons his own song
listened to the lark
Finally learned the teaching
of his own emphatic preaching..
Words from his own mouth
to his own soul did arc.
Not what was to him
obvious or unknown he taught
but what was them betwixt
His own soul's limit
touchstones
Ideas which him transfixed.
What we ourselves should do
we project to them and teach
not what's within our grasp
but our aspiring reach.
Our whistles are what
we've attained
Our sung notes higher still
out of whistles' range
Past life butchers
are 21st Century activists.
Prussian warriors
are 21st Century pacifists.
Mental patients.. some
are saints..
others were timeclocking
gatelocking
electroshocking
psychiatrists.
Present dharma's past karma.
It's the key to our own hearts
which our eyes magnetize.
(to the kindness of
the Pondas who live
the ancient compassion
and nonviolence of India)
HIS EYES SHINE
His eyes pour out in torrents
the light of GOD
They shine with the dew
of His kindness.
and glow with delight in
His ways.
His spirit focuses and
the wind is invoked
In wind's train
comes his consort rain.
His compassion draws
broken hearts to be
healed.
It magnetizes to him
shy forest animals.
Of a silent sudden appears
his visage in our third
eye vision,
framed in cobalt blue.
His voice heals by its power
and gentleness.
His ways teach the path
of peace.
He gives us wings to soar
beyond the grid of judgment.
When we return
we work to pour mercy
into the law.
He takes us on the
infinite journey
from our minds to our hearts.
LADDERS OF LIGHT
They point us to
the stars' light lattice
yet they let us
make
the choice of ladders
LIGHTHOUSE STAR COMPASS FOGHORN
The lighthouse which guards from rocks
The star which guides by night
The compass needle pointing north
The foghorn calling through the mist
The Shepherd's gentle calling voice
The ship arriving upon the horizon
The Healer's touch of grace
The pathfinder through trees' maze
.. sent by the infinite love of God
in which we are always immersed
ODE TO RICHARD WILBUR
The greyheaded
dandelion's shattering
and westwind's winged
scattering
.. wed to the rain's
sweet splattering
.. now gold blooms
all over
spattering
ROSEPURPLE MELODY
She was criticizing me..
the words hurt.. yet rivers
of rosepurple light flowed from
her hands and feet..
like a song whose lyrics
were lost in the exquisite
melody
ROYAL BLUE DRAGONFLY
A Sligo Creek dragonfly
of royal blue
seemed to mate the
back of the neck
of one of aqua hue
As does to
him and to me and to you
shakti flow
from the holy guru
TEACHER OF VARIATION
The ough in cough
she said not to do
when listening in public
to Rachmaninoff.
The ough in through
she taught rhymes with do
as in 'keep all animals
out of the zoos'.
The ough she said
as in 'ready and rough'
rhymes with Roosevelt..
Teddy so tough.
Rhymes with a vow
.. does the ough in bough
as in 'vow not to eat
fishes but
fruit from the bough'
And the ough in dough
is oh... so so
It's better to eat tomato
and 2 toned avocado.
(to my mother who
taught 1st grade
for many years
as she took care
of her invalid
husband and children..
and taught us too..
the many sounds of 'ough')
WINGED GUIDES
As he journeyed,
birds flew in front
of him to guide him..
at night spiders were
peaceweaving
messages to him in
their webs
.. the trees worked
with the wind to fan him
.. the sun gave him
unconditional warmth
.. everywhere all
beings returned the love
he gave.
BUDDHA IN CHINA
He walked toward
us.. this man born
in 1963 under Aquarius..
.. there was a cloud
of peace around him...
which lifted us slightly
above the ground..
severing our magnetism
with Mother Earth..
so that things of
the world receded..
we knew that he
cared for all beings..
we knew that he cared
for us as well.
He served us in
a Chinese restaurant..
the rice and coffee
became
bread and wine
in an ancient
sacrament of
initiation.
Some are stars
shining beyond
the cyclone..
the dry place
within the monsoon
.. the warm shelter
in the hurricane
.. the calm center
.. of the typhoon
but Buddhas, sometimes
wordless, reveal
to us
that we are all.
FOUR ELEMENTS
Some carry air
.. a cloud of peace
.. others are water
.. flowing with empathy
.. still others are earth
.. rock solid.. and faithful
.. and then there is fire
.. warming the cockles of our
hearts with the power of love
BECKONING BEACONS
Beacons beckoning..
stars summoning
comets calling
Light lifting
Milky Way invoking
our upward look
(to Madge D )
WE SAY WHAT WE MUST LEARN
How is it that preachers
are the most arrogant of teachers
.. that some police like war
.. the martial like some police
more than being officers of peace
that male gynecologists
lose their lustre
when they become
powertripping lusters
EMILY'S WALNUT TREE
If Emily were given
a prize
for poems
of the most brevity
.. she might reply
.. her teacher
was the walnut tree..
Most times his
gifts of nut are most
neatly shellwrapped..
but ribbonless..
unlike the sun
with rays ribboned
or the sea
with rivers ribboned
JACKS IN THE PULPIT
Pastor Jack
in the Pulpit preached
that stealing was not
of the Gospel of God
while standing in the
stolen skins
of cows his feet were shod
Meanwhile in the fields
the Jacks In Pulpit grew
..spinning bright finery
for themselves
easily from the sod
ZEN MASTER
When he saw the rock of
himself waver in the rippling
reflection of the master's
pool.. he thought
he had chosen an unstable
teacher.. one not
well grounded..
until he realized
his master was melting
his rock.
SHEPHERD'S VOICE
The lighthouse which warns of rocks
The star which guards by night
The compass needle which points to north
The native pathfinder through
trees to the light
Calling through the mist
the welcome foghorn
The ship arriving upon the horizon
morn
this is what.. she is to
her loved ones.
(to Ruth G. G.)
UNBIDDEN COMES LOVE INCARNATE
Unbidden comes Love Incarnate,
the Teacher of Love.
Uncalled comes
the key which magnetizes
and unlocks
all hearts.
Unsummoned comes
the mate of the soul
responding to
unspoken agony
or to a pervading
peace.
ENLIGHTENING MOON
"Last night the moon
came dropping her clothes in the streets"
said Rumi.
Others enlightening
as her own load she is lightening
It is seldom she is
seen with lightning.
The great poet Kabir says the rishi Swapacha was a tanner by trade. Only God can judge actions. John Travolta has acted in a film on trichloroethylene and other toxins pouring out of tanneries into the waters. http://www.vsdc.org
DROPLETS
Sunwands turn rain droplets
into blackberry drupelets
as enkindled okra seeds
acknowledge heliocracy
HIS VOICE
If Moses' angels were
to make us cleave
the mirror of the Purple
Sea
and coerce us into choosing
a single strand of his
spiraling music strings..
would it be the
melodies through
which God rings..
or lyric elegies
angels sing..
or the master fingers
dancing through
submissive strings..
....we would pass
these by
.. his voice to hear
.. its chariot
does.. his soul
to us bring..
it is the 'sound of
many waters'
KINGING PAWNS
The guru is not finished
til kinged are all his pawns..
those sould he harmed
in previous lives
now bathed in
light of dawn..
those souls empowered
fully now
by God's and their
own love drawn
FLOATING FREE
An artist's art is
independent of his life
as a child exists separate
from a mother
as a bubble floats free
of a bubbleblower
KNOWING
He knew which students
were ready for the teaching
that there is no sin..
and which students
would lapse from spiritual
disciplines without
protective banks
BEING LOVE
Those who ARE silent love
us do teach
much more than those
who of love preach
HEALING VISION
Onto others
her projections
of her own
sweet perfection
lift them to kinder
self perceptions
23 RULES I NEED TO REMEMBER
OR... MY SELF SPEAKS TO MYSELF
Over and over God and angels have tried to tell this slow learning
writer in myriad ways and through friends, visions, dreams,God
Calling,
The Course In Miracles, the Tao Te Ching, the darshan
of the ocean , the witnessing of divine love to phrase her speech and
writing
in positive ways.. and to be silent as often as possible.
1. We become what we focus upon.
2. What we focus upon grows.
3. What we speak becomes reality.
4. When one says 'don't think of
a purple porpoise'..others thinks of a purple porpoise
.. for the thought form is more powerful than the plus or minus in
front of it
5. We are more likely to evoke
ethical acts in ourselves and others by describing
their virtues than their lapses
6. Positive thought materializes
and negative thoughts can summon
forth negativity
7. It is better to describe
than to add gratuitous value judgment, said Meher Baba, for judgment
invites opposition from the reader.
8. Asking a question invites more thought
than a lecture.
9. Prayer is a more effective behavior modifier than criticism.
10. Those who pour forth with laughter
and joy are more effective.
11. Speech and writing reduce the infinite sphere of reality
to 1 line. They rend the fabric of the magic balloon
which carries us everywhere.
12. The message is first for the messenger, says the Course
In Miracles. If I did not have energy on a subject,
I would not write of it.
13. Many statements evoke equal and opposite reactions
as the mind of the listener or reader is involved
in its function of dissection.
14. Bees are drawn to the sweet not the sour.
15. An ancient story is that the sun and wind had a contest
.. who could first make a man doff his coat. The sun sent down
many rays.. while the wind blew cold. The breath of the wind
made the man rap his coat more tightly. The warmth of the sun
made him shed it.
16. Why do I think bad people should be loved
and that bad corporations should be boycotted
.. is there an inconsistency..
17. Why if I were an artist would I paint pastel swaths
of lemon and pink, lavender, saffron, and aqua.. while my
thoughts on war profiteers are grey with despair and red with anger.
18. Is it not an oxymoron to chant PEACE NOW with anger in the voice?
19. My friend asked me if my objective was to persuade or to vent.
20. She said homicide detectives have the highest divorce rate
because they only look upon death.
21. My teacher has said silence is better than speech.
22. Negativity, criticism, bitterness lose support for ones causes.
23. We see what we are. The world is a reflection of our
own frequency patterns. The projections we have not
forgiven in others are what we have not forgiven in ourselves.
NOT ALWAYS WITH A BALLOON STRING
When the guru comes in dreams
He sometimes leaves behind
.. twinkling stars from
His feet
.. visions and melodies..
bridges to reunite the divided..
mantras.. removal of obstacles
..different angles from
which to view problems..
.. but sometimes He is
a balloon who leaves no
thoughtstring
for earthlings
as He flies away
Still.. His lessons
have been planted in
the heart.. and will
bloom into cognition
at the right time
THREE PATHS ON WATER
There are many paths
over the bay
.. the stone bridge
.. the foam wake of boats..
.. the glowing path of
the sunset..
ANGELS' INSPIRATION
Angels' inspiration
descends and is
clad in words
(inspired by David Baker's
painting: Alphabet
Descending A Staircase)
CIRCULAR SWORD
Joan knew that all night
the circular sword of St
Michael was around her protecting her
MESSAGE FIRST FOR MESSENGER
The Course In Miracles
says the message is intended
first for the messenger.
If this is true,
then sometimes it is
not the messenger who
is killed but the messenger
who has stifled the message.
EVERYONE MY MUSE
Everyone can be your muse
Everyone can you amuse
SEANILE
Where to salt water
turns the sweet
Where aqua becomes
royal navy blue
Where robins slowly
become sea gulls
And the linear
to spherical
gives sway
is where the
sea is wed
to Nile..
Some thought
the Nile
was senile..
but he was far beyond
earth's cares
merged in the ecstasy
.. of the ebbtide sea
.. only a murmuring
to say where he'd merged
WE SAY WHAT WE MUST LEARN
How is it that preachers
are the most arrogant of teachers
.. that some police like war
.. the martial like some police
more than being officers of peace
that male gynecologists
lose their lustre
when they become
powertripping lusters
EMILY'S WALNUT TREE
If Emily were given
a prize
for poems
of the most brevity
.. she might reply
.. her teacher
was the walnut tree..
Most times his
gifts of nut are most
neatly shellwrapped..
but ribbonless..
unlike the sun
with rays ribboned
or the sea
with rivers ribboned
JACKS IN THE PULPIT
Pastor Jack
in the Pulpit preached
that stealing was not
of the Gospel of God
while standing in the
stolen skins
of cows his feet were shod
Meanwhile in the fields
the Jacks In Pulpit grew
..spinning bright finery
for themselves
easily from the sod
ZEN MASTER
When he saw the rock of
himself waver in the rippling
reflection of the master's
pool.. he thought
he had chosen an unstable
teacher.. one not
well grounded..
until he realized
his master was melting
his rock.
TRILLIUM CLOISTERED
As the longfingered sun
reaches out to touch
a cloistered trillium
or a lake trembles in
the light of moon and stars
so can a poet's long rainbow
of words
play our heartstrings from afar.
WIND DIASPORA
Dandelions:
sunwed weeds
scattering their
windwed seeds
LIFESTAR
Sailors as they glide
take the North Star as their guide
The Magi in the desert
with Bethlehem's light abide.
Spiritual aspirants take holy
ones as their guiding stars.
But you are led by the
Star of the Third Eye Inside.
THE DOE
The male lion
had never noticed her before
but loving the doe he
became a herbivore.
(to Robert DeNiro's writers)
ALEXANDER'S RAGE
Alexander's anger...
was there any blame to Aristotle?
Are winesellers guilty for the
rage within
a fermented berry bottle?
HIS EYES SHINE
His eyes pour out in torrents
the light of GOD
They shine with the dew
of His kindness.
and glow with delight in
His ways.
His spirit focuses and
the wind is invoked
In wind's train
comes his consort rain.
His compassion draws
broken hearts to be
healed.
It magnetizes to him
shy forest animals.
Of a silent sudden appears
his visage in our third
eye vision,
framed in cobalt blue.
His voice heals by its power
and gentleness.
His ways teach the path
of peace.
He gives us wings to soar
beyond the grid of judgment.
When we return
we work to pour mercy
into the law.
He takes us on the
infinite journey
from our minds to our hearts.
LADDERS OF LIGHT
They point us to
the stars' light lattice
yet they let us
make
the choice of ladders
LIGHTHOUSE STAR COMPASS FOGHORN
The lighthouse which guards from rocks
The star which guides by night
The compass needle pointing north
The foghorn calling through the mist
The ship arriving upon the horizon
The pathfinder leading through trees' maze
.. sent by the infinite love of God
in which we are always immersed
ODE TO RICHARD WILBUR
The greyheaded
dandelion's shattering
and westwind's winged
scattering
.. wed to the rain's
sweet splattering
.. now gold blooms
all over
spattering
ROSEPURPLE MELODY
She was criticizing me..
the words hurt.. yet rivers
of rosepurple light flowed from
her hands and feet..
like a song whose lyrics
were lost in the exquisite
melody
ROYAL BLUE DRAGONFLY
A Sligo Creek dragonfly
of royal blue
seemed to mate the
back of the neck
of one of aqua hue
As does to
him and to me and to you
shakti flow
from the holy guru
TEACHER OF VARIATION
The ough in cough
she said not to do
when listening in public
to Rachmaninoff.
The ough in through
she taught rhymes with do
as in 'keep all animals
out of the zoos'.
The ough she said
as in 'ready and rough'
rhymes with Roosevelt..
Teddy so tough.
Rhymes with a vow
.. does the ough in bough
as in 'vow not to eat
fishes but
fruit from the bough'
And the ough in dough
is oh... so so
It's better to eat tomato
and 2 toned avocado.
(to my mother who
taught 1st grade
for many years
as she took care
of her invalid
husband and children..
and taught us too..
the many sounds of 'ough')
WINGED GUIDES
As he journeyed,
birds flew in front
of him to guide him..
at night spiders were
peaceweaving
messages to him in
their webs
.. the trees worked
with the wind to fan him
.. the sun gave him
unconditional warmth
.. everywhere all
beings returned the love
he gave.
BUDDHA IN CHINA
He walked toward
us.. this man born
in 1963 under Aquarius..
.. there was a cloud
of peace around him...
which lifted us slightly
above the ground..
severing our magnetism
with Mother Earth..
so that things of
the world receded..
we knew that he
cared for all beings..
we knew that he cared
for us as well.
He served us in
a Chinese restaurant..
the rice and coffee
became
bread and wine
in an ancient
sacrament of
initiation.
Some are stars
shining beyond
the cyclone..
the dry place
within the monsoon
.. the warm shelter
in the hurricane
.. the calm center
.. of the typhoon
but Buddhas, sometimes
wordless, reveal
to us
that we are all.
FOUR ELEMENTS
Some carry air
.. a cloud of peace
.. others are water
.. flowing with empathy
.. still others are earth
.. rock solid.. and faithful
.. and then there is fire
.. warming the cockles of our
hearts with the power of love
BECKONING BEACONS
Beacons beckoning..
stars summoning
comets calling
Light lifting
Milky Way invoking
our upward look
(to Madge D )
WE SAY WHAT WE MUST LEARN
How is it that preachers
are the most arrogant of teachers
.. that some police like war
.. the martial like some police
more than being officers of peace
that male gynecologists
lose their lustre
when they become
powertripping lusters
ZODIAC WHEEL
D Calleiia said she
was praying for someone
who had consistently
opposed her. That night
the woman or God in her form
came and told D that if she
had a question about a chart
she should make the cusp
of the most affected of the
12 chambers the rising sign.
ZEN MASTER
When he saw the rock of
himself waver in the rippling
reflection of the master's
pool.. he thought
he had chosen an unstable
teacher.. one not
well grounded..
until he realized
his master was melting
his rock.
SHEPHERD'S VOICE
The lighthouse which warns of rocks
The star which guards by night
The compass needle which points to north
The native pathfinder through
trees to the light
Calling through the mist
the welcome foghorn
The ship arriving upon the horizon
morn
this is what.. she is to
her loved ones.
(to Ruth G. G.)
UNBIDDEN COMES LOVE INCARNATE
Unbidden comes Love Incarnate,
the Teacher of Love.
Uncalled comes
the key which magnetizes
and unlocks
all hearts.
Unsummoned comes
the mate of the soul
responding to
unspoken agony
or to a pervading
peace.
ENLIGHTENING MOON
"Last night the moon
came dropping her clothes in the streets"
said Rumi.
Others enlightening
as her own load she is lightening
It is seldom she is
seen with lightning.
The great poet Kabir says the rishi Swapacha was a tanner by trade.
Only God can judge actions. John Travolta has acted in a film on
trichloroethylene and other toxins pouring out of tanneries into the
waters. http://www.vsdc.org
DROPLETS
Sunwands turn rain droplets
into blackberry drupelets
as enkindled okra seeds
acknowledge heliocracy
HIS VOICE
If Moses' angels were
to make us cleave
the mirror of the Purple
Sea
and coerce us into choosing
a single strand of his
spiraling music strings..
would it be the
melodies through
which God rings..
or lyric elegies
angels sing..
or the master fingers
dancing through
submissive strings..
....we would pass
these by
.. his voice to hear
.. its chariot
does.. his soul
to us bring..
it is the 'sound of
many waters'
Saiom Shriver
Hallowed Where You Stand to V Potter
NOTES ON UNBIDDEN COMES LOVE
INCARNATE (Bhagavad Gita: When the student is ready, the teacher
comes. Dream of K S Hoare.. a key to open gates floated toward
someone. Screenwriter of a movie: You need not seek Love. Love will
find you.)
ALEXANDER'S RAGE
ANGELS' INSPIRATION
BALLOON STRING NOT ALWAYS
BECKONING BEACONS
BEING LOVE
BLANK SIGN
BUDDHA IN CHINA
CIRCULAR SWORD
DROPLETS
EMILY'S WALNUT TREE
ENLIGHTENING MOON
EVERYONE MY MUSE
FIRST THE LIGHTNING THEN THE THUNDER
FLOATING FREE
FOUR ELEMENTS
HALLOWED WHERE YOU STAND
HEALING VISION
HERALD HEARD THE HARK
HIS EYES SHINE
HIS VOICE
JACKS IN THE PULPIT
KINGING PAWNS
LADDERS OF LIGHT
LIFESTAR
LIGHTHOUSE STAR COMPASS FOGHORN
MESSAGE FIRST FOR MESSENGER
ODE TO RICHARD WILBUR
ROYAL BLUE DRAGONFLY
ROSEPURPLE MELODY
SEANILE
SHEPHERD'S VOICE
THE DOE
TEACHER OF VARIATION
THEY WHO DID OUR MINDS IGNITE
THREE PATHS ON WATER
TRILLIUM CLOISTERED
UNBIDDEN COMES LOVE INCARNATE
WE SAY WHAT WE MUST LEARN
WIND DIASPORA
WINGED GUIDES
ZEN MASTER
23 RULES
45
