Just Another Night at Café Illunination
After the talk on Operation Cast Lead Carla Nguyen and I headed over to Café Illumination Where we began processing what we heard We sat outside as it was a balmy night Odd how calm…
Category: No Time for Poetry but Exactly What Is
Metta Meditation Modified
May you be filled with lovingkindness (even through all this) May you be well (despite the tempestuous circumstances) May you be peaceful and at ease (though this may seem remote) May you be happy (at…
Mev’s Ode to Joy
Sitting across from a friend Downtown Gelateria I’d just given her The Book of Mev (Her silent, deep response I’ll never forget) I offered to read her something So I turned the pages and came…
Just Say “Yes”
“I read your manuscript… twice” “Really?” “Lemme tell you, it was something else” “Oh yeah?” “It’s like … I don’t know how to put it” “Just try” “OK … it’s like … Kafka on acid”…
When People Leave Town
“All that is dear to me and everyone that I love Are of the nature to change There is no way to escape being separated from them”* Dear Bella Levenshteyn Ultimately, I’m glad when people…
Bella Reads Rumi
Dear Kind Soul It’s me again The following are two lines from the September 12th Rumi poem-of-the-day In the book you gave me, But For Us This Day: “Do not wait. The open plain is better /…
The Trouble with You, Bella Levenshteyn
The trouble with you Bella Levenshteyn Is not that your soul is too small The “trouble” with you Is that your soul is too big It takes in and encompasses Everybody
Dostoevsky Wrote That Beauty Will Save the World
Years ago A friend gave me a Thomas Merton book– New Seeds of Contemplation— He inscribed it with the following From poet W.H. Auden: “The funniest and kindest of mortals Are those who are most…
When I Listen and Re-listen to Your Messages
I listened to your voicemail at 3:21 am today Or is it tomorrow? I’m lost, but it doesn’t matter Because I always have your voice messages to reorient me Working the night shift 14 hours…
United States of Ch’an (Round up of the Last Week)
Reading Penelope Fitzgerald is ch’an Stretching out on the beach is ch’an Quitting your suckey job is ch’an Sitting and not being productive is ch’an Befriending your arch-nemesis is ch’an Attending to your 13th patient…