The Path of Language (Compromismo/7)
For the last several years Henry’s friend David Harbrecht Had been paying attention to the drama of the Palestinian struggle Once he visited He was moved in his viscera He then made a decision There…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Saigon, U.S.A (Plus C’est la Même Chose)
…what Americans need to face is that these horrors are in fact being perpetrated with American assent, by a government kept in power solely by American military might, by men paid for by American dollars,…
Toward a Curriculum for an Institute for the Cultivation of Slowness
For Lindsay Morning Aspiration: Upon first waking up in the morning, recite this gatha from Thich Nhat Hanh: “Waking up this morning, I smile: Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to…
Notice What You Notice
What a beautiful phone message you just left What a beautiful Friday reunion after 5 months separation What a beautiful mantram walk up Washington Boulevard What a beautiful hour at Reshma’s Café planning the spiritual…
Candor
Perry When we ran into each other On the sidewalk in front of Gelato Supreme And I asked you, “Hey, when can we get together again? Last Monday was so long ago!” You raised that…
When Hamlet Saw Sri Anandamayi Ma
What an uncanny phenomenon is this woman! How penetrating in perception! How infinite in faculties! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god!…
Come, Beloved by Meera
As the lotus dies without water, As the night is blind without the moon, So is my heart without you, Beloved. I wander alone at night, Driven by my longing for you. I hunger for…
Jotting from a Notebook Early 2011
Please remember Victor Jara, in the Santiago Stadium. Es Verdad, those Washington Bullets How can one take seriously anything The U.S. government says about being pro-democracy When it supported the Mubarak dictatorship for 30 years?…
You’re the Beautiful Resistance
There’s something about your sharing with me Tears usually are the result Not sadness as in Ach But gratitude as in Ah I’ve known you nine years plus So, of course, we inter-are Muriel Ruykeyser:…
Share the Wealth: Slow Is Beautiful
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” –Blaise Pascal “The whole struggle of life is to some extent a struggle about how slowly or how quickly to…