10.27.2011 - Sharing Poems - Part Two
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This was a gentle special sharing, whose flavors emanated from and radiated the very best of PaB-Heart. The session was a “continuation” of last week’s poem-metaphor explorations. Fc, Calvino, Santoshima, Boxy, and I shared poems. I can’t remember when a virtual room felt so comfortably warm. -- Bruce
Pila Mulligan: hi Bruce
Bruce: Hey, Pila!
Bruce: (sry) I was just IMing Fc.
Pila Mulligan: :) np
Bruce: Thanks also for sending out the quotes from earlier sessions.
Pila Mulligan: those were informative, I thought
Pila Mulligan: hi Nature
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hi Pila
Bruce: Hey, Nature!
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hehe thanks for the LM earlier, Bruce
Naturespaw Bestijl: TY for the card PIla
Bruce: sure, my pleasure.
Bruce: Hey, Cal.
Pila Mulligan: hi Cal
Calvino Rabeni: Hello
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hey Cal
Calvino Rabeni: Hello Nature
Pila Mulligan: :)
Naturespaw Bestijl: Is WoK very similar to PaB?
Pila Mulligan: yes and no
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce: Yes, but it is a sort of sub-division (Bruce listens).
Bruce: Hey, Fc.
Pila Mulligan: hi Fc
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hey Fc
FcSeeker: Hello Pila
FcSeeker: rehi Naturespaw
FcSeeker: Hello Cal
Pila Mulligan: PaB seems more structured as to expectations, Nature
Bruce: I'm going to move across the room - It's too hard to get everyone inside the camera range.
Pila Mulligan: a schedule, guaridans, etc
Bruce: come on over, Fc.
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: hello Alf
Bruce: There you are! And here's Boxy.
boxy: hi :)
Bruce: It's nine after the hour. Shall we begin?
Pila Mulligan: sure
Bruce: Lat week, folks said tat they wanted a continuation of our explorations of metaphor in poetry. . .
Bruce: and we invited anyone who had not shared a poem to do so this week, . . .
Bruce: Since, Cal, Pila, and I shared poems last week, wold anyone care to go first?
Bruce: would*
Bruce: Bruce waits and listens. . .
FcSeeker: can that poem be lyric of a song ?
boxy: sure
Calvino Rabeni: surely
Bruce: Sure - - - we're exploring metaphors, Fc. . . and songs are great.
Bruce: please share it, if your' ready.
FcSeeker: well...as one special song rose to my mind
FcSeeker: but I can translate only words...so it might not be a poem in english
FcSeeker: the most propably is not
Bruce: ;-)
boxy: what's the original language?
FcSeeker:
You , the friend of the singer
if never we come to know each other or not
I'll sing my song to you
you, the friend of the singer
If names and titels only
would create friendships
the world would be very empty
My songs are created to bring concolation
and bonds to friendship
it is needed on the path of the singer
each friend one can get
My friends are there
where songs are listened
please believe me and understand
you, the friend of the singer
[end]
boxy: nice :)
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce: Very nice, indeed . . . I felt your friendship reaching out to each of us. . .
Pila Mulligan: like a poet
Pila Mulligan: as well as a singer
boxy: fc, what's the original language, if i may ask?
FcSeeker: sure you may, but as it is in my profile; my RL is top secret
boxy: ah, ok :)
Bruce: that's ok, Fc.
FcSeeker: I wish that my words/thoughts and love would be the meaning
boxy: i like this part: My friends are there where songs are listened
Bruce: yes, I felt that, Fc. . .
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce: You've warmed up the whole room.
Naturespaw Bestijl: thanks for the poem/lyrics!
boxy: it's like with memories of us that live on even after our deaths
FcSeeker: you all did that with joining your love with my love
FcSeeker: ah yes; have thought so much of this ways of knowing...
FcSeeker: I understand knowing based on the feelings
Bruce: would anyone else care to share a poem?
boxy: when fc mentioned a song, one song came up in my head first for some reason –
"Imagine"
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
- - - -
boxy: that would be a wonderful "way of knowing" the world
boxy: utopic, but hopeful
Bruce: Your songs, Fc and Boxy, remind me of the words of William Butler Yeats, a few verses from
"Ulysses"
“My fiftieth year had come and gone,
I sat, a solitary man,
In a crowded London shop,
An open book and empty cup
On the marble table-top.
While on the shop and street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twenty minutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessed and could bless.”
- - -
FcSeeker: <3<3<3
boxy: bruce, it's like a 90 sec experience :)
Naturespaw Bestijl: Nice!
Pila Mulligan: :)
Bruce: just a brief moment in time - - and a world of difference . . . forever.
Bruce: Yeat’s poem feels to me like a metaphor -- although it contains none.
Bruce: it seems like a moment/metaphor for any similar ‘simple awakening.’
Bruce: Cal, Pila - - did either of you bring a poem -- or Boxy, too?
Pila Mulligan: not me
Bruce: kk.
Pila Mulligan: Nature?
boxy: no, not me
Bruce: I'd love to share something from Eliza . . .
FcSeeker: please
Bruce: but will happily wait for others first.
Bruce: . . . ok.
Bruce: I asked Eliza's permission
Bruce: to share her poem with you today...
FcSeeker: <3
Calvino Rabeni: sure Bruce
Bruce: Eliza gave a link to it in this morning's 99-Days report.
Bruce: Here it is:
Other Poems and Suchlike
The Lorax speaks for the trees,
like the lady speaks for the logs
layers of witness
down down down
It is when you most want to
Defend, that you mustn’t
The ‘want to’ will amplify distortions
So, be still
And besides you can’t
fathom the factors
So, simplify
Clip from this morning suggested:
‘don’t put your life
in the hands of mere thinking’
Thinking will run away with and
Squander the anointing…
scatter substance to the winds
and you’ll spend the precious lifetime
looking for those glasses
sitting right atop your head.
- - - -
Pila Mulligan: :)
Pila Mulligan: was Eliza the author?
Pila Mulligan: nice
Bruce: Yes, she wrote it - - I will give you her link:
Pila Mulligan: thanks
Bruce: I love "it will squander the anointing..."
Bruce: “and run away with it.”
Bruce: Hi, San!
Santoshima: hi!
FcSeeker: Hello san :)
Santoshima: sorry to be late
Pila Mulligan: hi San
Santoshima: hi Pila
Bruce: We’re sharing ways-of-knowing poems, San.
Santoshima: and Fc, Nature, Cal
Santoshima: ok, thanks
Bruce: Did you by any chance bring a poem?
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hi San
Santoshima: :)
Santoshima: please continue...
FcSeeker: whispers: we 'continue' waiting for you to tell a poem :)
FcSeeker: I can make the nc for you to read later on our told here
Santoshima: ty, is this written by Eliza?
Bruce: That would be GREAT, Fc.
Santoshima: received the notecard from pila, thanks, fc
Bruce: Yes, Eliza wrote it, and gave me permission to use it here today.
boxy: very good one from Eliza. She’s also a poetess! :)
Santoshima: ok, ty
Bruce: any more poems? - from anyone?
Calvino Rabeni: if everyone who wants to has done it, I have another
Bruce: good, Cal, please.
Naturespaw Bestijl: :)
Calvino Rabeni: this is about contemplation and the metaphor of real objects
Everything is Waiting for You
- by David Whyte
Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.
Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting
- - -
boxy: singing kettle :)
Santoshima: yes!
Naturespaw Bestijl: wow..
Pila Mulligan: :)
Naturespaw Bestijl: seems like there are a lot of lessons in that
Bruce: “You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.”
Bruce: I enjoy David Whyte's work very much. . . I have a book by him here - - especially appreciate his trying to bring humanity back into the business/industrial world.
Calvino Rabeni: “the stairs are your mentor”
Pila Mulligan: especially as you age :)
boxy: um, don't forget about the fridge, too. pila knows :)
Pila Mulligan: :)
Calvino Rabeni: and your fitness coach too, I think
Bruce: “All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves.”
boxy: twitter could use that
Bruce: integrity - nobility - being what they are - nothing pretentious
Calvino Rabeni: That passage is interesting, Bruce. I've heard the poet say, he thinks animals live in a state of belonging, only people imagine themselves to be separate. But I think animals get lonely too .. What do you think?
Bruce: How is this "especially as you age," Pila?
Pila Mulligan: the stairs, I find myself paying more attention to their demands, Bruce
Pila Mulligan: or maybe guidance, rather than demands
Bruce: ok, thanks, Pila - - me too, mindful of stairs ;-)
Calvino Rabeni: though he's right there is some holding to separateness in what could be called a pretentious way
Bruce: oh -- animals do get lonely. . .
FcSeeker: at least that one of my cats felt himself to be lonely because I started to go out more often
Calvino Rabeni: :)
FcSeeker: and he never forgave me that
Bruce: oh yes. cats, dogs, socialized animals . . . even cattle in a field . . . and horses . . . They lean against each other, as if for emotional support.
Pila Mulligan: they also usually seem less distracted
Pila Mulligan: or bring CEO's into the pasture :)
Santoshima: may i give a poem? when it seems right?
Pila Mulligan: please do San
Calvino Rabeni: "being themselves" then is being part of their group
Calvino Rabeni: yes, please
Santoshima: let me know, cal
Santoshima: yes
FcSeeker: please san
Bruce: Please do, San!!!
Santoshima: * *
Santoshima:
Help
Lay down beside me I signaled to my wolf
Three pats of the sofa in the early morn
Then two pats of the heart to say why.
He did it silently, no reply when one does
What's to do. I must rest my hand on you
For a while for the usual reasons. This
Is easy to say between wolves or wolves and people
And difficult between people. For instance
A person might not want to absorb by touch another's pain
Then. The wolf loves to. The person might say
Oh all right, but clearly a burden to ease another's pain.
If you keep a wolf, there isn't much more they do
But they are specially good at it
Like the surf loves to be splashed with a whole bottle of poison water,
Try that and see if the waves don't turn over embracing without end,
Try that and see if you can find any poison after two seconds,
Or slowly slide your fingers through the first layer
Of your wolf's coat to the second layer and move fingers
Head to tail, tail to head, slower than slowly.
Anything could have happened to you yesterday
And you'd soon be okay.
But first get a wolf.
- - Arthur Vogelsang
- - - -
Naturespaw Bestijl: I love that last line :P
Pila Mulligan: nice San
FcSeeker: (loves wolfs also very much)
FcSeeker: and thinking the dogs, how they wave their tail to sad owner trying to tell that too...that you'll soon be o.k.
Bruce: thanks so much for that, San. . . . fits in perfectly with Cal's question about loneliness and animals.
Calvino Rabeni: :)
Santoshima: to access that part of oneself that can "absorb pain"
Santoshima: that is acknowledging that we are in fact animals
Santoshima: that we are all connected
Calvino Rabeni: the part that has the ocean rolling through it
Santoshima: yeah
Bruce: absorbing even the "poison" - - without holding onto it for 2 seconds.
Santoshima: :)
Bruce: “But first get a wolf.”
Bruce: TY so much for sharing all of these poems today.
Santoshima: ty for making this sharing possible
Bruce: Pila has sent out a note card . . .
Bruce: about WoK's original purposes. . .
Bruce: and sometime it would be good to review that, I feel.
Calvino Rabeni: yes
Bruce: Not because we should have the SAME purposes . . .
Pila Mulligan: only a few minutes left in the hour today, so if we start it may need to continue
Bruce: but it would be good to examine a bit what we are wanting here. . .
Bruce: Shall we make that our topic for next week?
Santoshima: yes, good idea
Calvino Rabeni: that note card could be a good "starter"
FcSeeker: how about what special some poems have brought to our self ?
Bruce: ok.
Bruce: I will edit and post our chat today. . . and I will send out a heads-up for next week, then.
Calvino Rabeni: good idea also, Fc
Pila Mulligan: poetry day may be a nice thing to have continue from time to time
Santoshima: :)
Bruce: No, Fc. . . we're thinking about next week's topic being to discuss Ways of Knowing - - our purposes/wishes for the group.
Pila Mulligan: poetry interspersed with the rest of WoK
FcSeeker: ah ok
Calvino Rabeni: though any WoK meeting might be leavened by a poem :)
Bruce: oh yes. we can always bring back and bring in poems! Of course, Fc! Good point.
Naturespaw Bestijl: Is this a relatively new group?
Bruce: No, it has been going for years, Nature.
Pila Mulligan: yes and no
Pila Mulligan: :)
Calvino Rabeni: in SL terms it's relatively old
Pila Mulligan: this phase is new it seems
Bruce: ;-)
Santoshima: am looking forward to seeing more of David Whyte's writing, thanks Cal
Bruce: http://waysofknowing.kira.org/
Bruce: And I am looking forward to reading more of Arthur Vogelsang
Calvino Rabeni: yw Santo
Santoshima: see you all soon ~ work time for me
Pila Mulligan: bye San, nice to see you
Bruce: THANKS, San!
Santoshima: bye!
FcSeeker: waves to san
Pila Mulligan: happy yogaing
Calvino Rabeni: Bye everyone (as Cal also departs)
Pila Mulligan: bye for now Cal
FcSeeker: waves to Cal
Bruce: Bye, Cal. Thanks!
Bruce: Bye, Fc!
FcSeeker: takes a humble bow
Pila Mulligan: bye Fc :)
FcSeeker: namaste
Pila Mulligan: poetry is uplifting
Bruce: This was your first session with WoK, Nature?
Naturespaw Bestijl: Oh was a little late at saying bye
Bruce: ;-)
Naturespaw Bestijl: Yes, decided to check it out after you mentioned the sub-groups at PaB
Bruce: I'm glad you did.
Naturespaw Bestijl: :) me too
Naturespaw Bestijl: Thank you.
Bruce: We are sort of in the process of reshaping WoK - -
Bruce: nothing really specific yet...
Bruce: reconsidering the group's original focus when Pema and Stim started it about four years ago.
Naturespaw Bestijl: Hmm
Naturespaw Bestijl: what was it like back then?
Bruce: a contemplative-knowing exploration.
Pila Mulligan: it began under the auspices of a RL meditation teacher
Bruce: yes, Stim, whom I met in Halifax last July.
Pila Mulligan: he had exercises, lots of thoughts to discuss
Bruce: many of those dialogues are still in our wiki.
Naturespaw Bestijl: interesting.
Naturespaw Bestijl: Will take a look.
Bruce: I hope you'll be able to come back, if you wish. . . every Thursday at 2 p.m. slt.
Bruce: I can also add you to our email list, if you wish.
Pila Mulligan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Tainer <- = Stim
Bruce: If you join the Ways of Knowing group, you will also receive notices from there.
Naturespaw Bestijl: I will try to come when I can (usually not at home this time).
Bruce: Stim teaches in a Buddhist monastery in Berkeley, California.
Bruce: I must go now - - my wolf is growling.
Bruce: Thank you all!