Mindful

With wide eyes, ancient Sumerians would wait
hardly a breath or thought
waiting, waiting, surely sometimes for hours
until, suddenly, a shift
Silence settles
without moving, the room begins to look different
-- new colors emerge
now embodying a place divine
the arrival of the gods

Its not so different from what we do
Sit, let small matters and chatter pass through

Out under the oak tree,
where I grew up:

Faded swing and moss and fire ring
Finally mind has quieted somewhat
I just wait...breathe...

Mindful of sounds,
-- before, minute as they were, just noise
Now channeled: cows, cars, rustling leaves,
wind around my ears

Colors organize into broad, parallel lines
flat grey of sky dominates periphery
rusted dormancy of pasture
new silver of the barbed wire fence

The calm begins to supersede the grip of mundane
the quiet seems unnatural

As always, a remembrance:
See that I am seeing

Status quo, inert, linear,
yielding now:
landscapes alive with color, motion

Green grass, mean, spread out beneath the tree
-- pervading,
virtually inescapable

This green reminder of ever-present biology
of earthly beginnings
clashing with the fabric of my limbs...

Senses – 5 teeny specks of perception
an astronomically grand scheme

Perception – a speck, a blip,
on the energy spectrum

Hegel
Object inextricably dependent on subject
subject dependent on object
co-dependency of mind and matter

Further illuminated:
Mind and matter,
shimmering through Indra’s net
interdependent
all minds, all matter

All things connected
throughout the universe each glimmering jewel
struggling always to break away
unique
beautiful
unusual – tragic – alive
…common – ironic – broken
Mindfulness resists natures’ shackles
We are not built for it
Resisting for only so long
then returns
to damp, earthy quarters of green grass