online today!socrates44 Poetry (156)

While gazing at the sky
A gnat flew in my eye
Causing me to wince in pain

Using the faucet spout
I tried to flush it out
So I could see clear again

When the gnat was dislodged
It came out very smudged
Like a soggy wet wheat grain


When next I watched the sky
A bird pooped in my eye
So I had to flush again

I must be unlucky
For what happened to me
Because it had me in pain

So when birds are on high
And there are gnats nearby
Caution I have to maintain



Humour Haiku

dog sniffing the grass
searching for the perfect spot
to have a poop

Some folks like to complain
And are very fickle
They fume when rain is falling
And fret at a mere drizzle

Wild birds and animals
They all need the rain
Which gives them water
For their lives to sustain

The plants and the trees
And all the lovely flowers
For them to grow and flourish
They also need the showers

The food crops that are grown
To provide food for us all
Each of them would perish
If the rain did not fall

So please think of these things
Before you start complaining
And creating a lot of fuss
The next time rain is falling

I am a pretty flower
all dressed up in blue
I love the falling rain
and the sunshine too

My mother is the plant
She feeds me every day
and keeps me looking bright
so I'm happy and gay

I have some friends
who come to visit me
one is a lovely butterfly
the other is a honey bee

I feed them with my nectar
and then they fly away
I tell them to come back
on another day

For several thousands of years
you upheld the sacredness of Nature
avoiding wanton destruction
of plant and animal life
taking only what you needed
since their sacredness was
just as important to you
as the sacredness of humanity

When harvesting wild rice for food
you let some fall into the water
to produce crops for the future
Surrounding a pack of sheep
while hunting in the mountains
you let a male and female escape
so by their reproductive process
they would ensure the continuation
of their species

You saw your self as part of Nature
living in harmony with it
and not plundering it with greed
Your religion was to respect Nature
viewing all plants and animals
as parts of its magnificent fabric
Abuse of a part of it was
an abuse of the whole

Your way of life
provides valuable lessons
that can teach mankind how
to deal with today's ecological crisis
that threatens the survival
of all life on the planet
You were the genuine
Guardian of the environment

The path that leads past heaven
and far beyond the highest god-realms
runs straight from the spot
where we happen to be standing
It is mysterious and invisible
to minds befogged by concepts
such as good and evil
light and dark
going and arriving
self and other
is and is not

To perceive it requires
the seeing beyond sight
the hearing beyond sound
The truth is grasped
when the mind in its stillness
reaches the no-place beyond thought
Knowledge is discarded
Wisdom remains
God and no-god are found to be identical

No mental concept is involved
only experience
-a unique perception
joy-bestowing
that leads to imperturbable tranquillity
to recognition of the beauty
inherent in every flower
in every grain of dust
cement or dung
and to unqualified liberation
from the human state
The experience is nameless
being luminously perceptible
but utterly beyond description
This is the way of mysticism

Unfortunately
everything pertaining to mysticism
lies beyond definition and description
Transcending logic
it deals with truth
that is attainable only
by direct intuition
The Taoist Lao-tzu says of it:
He who knows does not speak
He who speaks does not know

Alone with nature
one can feel a strange unity
with everything around
Unity that is so strong
and overpowering
that one loses consciousness
of one's individual self

One's consciousness seems to merge
with a deeper consciousness
of the unity of all things
in nature and the cosmos
One experiences an awareness
of a deeper reality
that is impossible
to describe in words

At such moments
one has no consciousness
of time and space
but only of that moment
- the infinite eternal NOW

One makes contact
with one's cosmic roots
in a dimension where
time and space
are irrelevant
It is the synchronisation
of one's consciousness
with the absolute
and ultimate reality
of the cosmos

I am Rain

Falling from Above

Blessing the Earth with Showers

And my Love

I watched a hatching baby chick
struggling to break free from its shell
that was its home for many days
but now was time to say farewell

Mom had pecked into the shell
a tiny hole to start the process
She did her part dutifully
Now the chick must do the rest

I felt sorry for the struggling chick
and could almost feel the pain
I wanted to break off the shell
thinking it would ease the strain

Then I remembered someone said
the chick must struggle on its own
to start its heart and lungs working
for it to become fully grown

I stood and watched as a miracle
unfolded right in front of me
All by itself the chick broke out
and stood there so cute and furry

There is a lesson here for parents
who are raising a family
Be protective of your children
but do not do it overly

To do
Or not to do?
Tomorrow is next day
I promise I will do it then
That's when!

a slight breeze
and loosely packed snow
on yonder branch
comes tumbling down
in myriads of tiny snowflakes
each flake becomes a miracle
glistening in the streetlight
like a diamond

I find it strange coming home and
not seeing you here this evening
Even now, with my mind's ear
I still hear the patter of your tiny feet
as you ran into our room
when I opened the door
It is a sound that will always
remain with me

I recall the time I spoke sternly to you
about something you did
that I thought was wrong
and how you went directly
to your favourite spot
and curled up there
You glanced up at me in apology
with those sad eyes full of emotion
which moved me so strangely
that I wondered if it was a child
sitting there looking up at me

I shall always remember how
you sat on your little haunches
somewhat lopsided with
your head half-cocked to one side
one ear up and one ear down
staring at me
as I tried to read your thoughts
or was it you that sat that way
to read my thoughts

I can still hear your pitiful moan
the first day I put you in the kennel
Forgive me for not realizing
that a spirit like yours
was not meant to be caged
After you were set free
how different and alive you looked
jumping around in the yard
with those precise energetic little leaps

So goodbye my little Gypsy
I shall never see you again
but you will always dwell
in that secret spot in my heart
Thank you for the few days
you spent with me
and for the beauty
you brought into my life
I shall always be grateful for it
My dearest little Gypsy

Tectonic plates shift on the ocean's floor
thrusting upwards an enormous quantity of water
generating a wave that keeps increasing in size
as it moves on the ocean's surface

Attaining a massive height over a hundred feet
it races across the ocean at jet speed
tossing huge ships and boats like little toys
as it rushes towards the shore

It reaches the land with unstoppable force
journeying inland for many miles
changing streets and roads into raging rivers
sweeping away almost every thing in its path

Houses, trees, cars are tossed around and smashed
by the sheer momentum of the moving water
leaving a trail of debris on the land
and death and destruction in its wake