The Old King of Misery

The Old King of Misery
was the hardest to tame
he swept up strange thoughts
and mixed them with fire

Like a key without a lock
he shimmered in the mind's eye
creating ghosts of himself
in every corner

His fall began slowly, in the belly
with the knowledge of a universal
seed, one that blossoms out of
compassion

Flowers grew to surpass those
apparitions, the roots spread,
and that rude fear was replaced
by an ancient strength

A Bird Over Water

We have but one fragile life
One opportunity to tell the secrets
of the soul, But like a bird
gliding over the water

We are caught in the momentum,
everyday navigating the peaks
of the waves, the shifting breeze
and the glare of the sun

A bird gliding over the water
tells us its secrets discretely,
in a pure rhythm, somehow giving life
to the world around it

It dances with the elements -
if it knows sorrow, it does not let on
It moves naturally and with determination,
full of its own spirit

What if heaven is inescapable,

a place to go to within the mind?

What if it lingers there, burning

while we are otherwise distracted?

I want a long hook to pull me from the stage

so that, from the sidelines,

I can simply watch the world

in all of it's splendor

I know I contain some grand kernel,

an essence of the earth, as do all humans

Perhaps that's why I yearn to speak

in ways I don't quite understand

Perhaps that's why wordless currents

swirl within me

causing me to speak about paradise

as a great unfolding conversation

Something in the body knows

when the spirit wears thin,

when hope appears to be

caught in the wires

Something in the body

is a messenger to the unknown

it travels through the night

and in the morning whispers to us,

in a voice too small to hear

without being magnified. We must

reach out our hands

and be very quiet

We must listen for that

singular point

where the unknown comes into contact

with our inspiration

What is believing?
Is it a hollow shell
for us to put stuff in?
Is it an Apache helicopter,
hovering over the blue ocean?

Nothing is more sacred
than the sting of a wasp
It is immediate and inescapable
while the rest of the sensual world
can be shrugged off

I want a bandage
over whatever eye urges me
to see beyond

I want to see the most immediate things
most clearly
I want the fog of the future
and the formulaic conditions
to be burned away
in the light of the sun

How to Constantly Rebuild Yourself

1. Begin by tracing the outlines of the aspirations you have deep within you
2. If this sounds difficult, begin with surface-level aspirations
3. Imagine lifelike statues of yourself having achieved success
4. These statues are sort of wirey, with gaps and holes
5. Imagine filling these gaps with an emotional putty
6. This involves great care to avoid making yourself look lumpy
7. Contrasting elements must be involved in order to create a smooth consistency. For example: anger and sadness can be allowed to mingle. Selfishness and selflessness can both be combined in the hips. Hope and fear can solidify the neck. Happiness and hunger in the belly. Etc
8. Continue including all sorts of enjoyable and difficult things
9. Smooth them over until the proportions feel like your own
10. Repeat this process every 7-10 days, or whenever feels necessary. Remember, the proportions and combinations of your emotional putty will constantly fluctuate. This is entirely normal, and is a good reason to practice this activity regularly.

How to Enjoy Life

1. Be quiet
2. Pay attention
3. Don't rush past anything
4. Get rid of your expectations
5. Value simplicity and ordinary life
6. Don't talk over people
7. Don't aspire to be rich
8. Reflect upon any repressed emotions
9. Allow yourself to feel them in a safe environment
10. Keep an open space in your heart and mind, so that the world continually feels new

How to Build Something Amazing Without Even Trying

1. Close your eyes
2. Put out your hands
3. Think of something majestic, like a castle
4. Begin to shape it with your hands
5. Put your heart into it and remain patient
6. Build the whole environment around the castle: the sky and the stars, the flowing water, etc
7. Imagine something you truly love as a fire deep within the castle, giving warmth and light
8. Step in and have a look around; allow yourself to feel comfortable
9. Invite over some friends, or
10. Venture out, knowing you have a safe place to return to

How to Make Amends with Everyone in Your Life

1. Take a deep breath
2. Realize that this isn't going to be very exact
3. Focus on one person at a time
4. Consider your relationship with them and why things went sour
5. Don't play "the blame game!" Think about things calmly and rationally
6. It's okay if either party made mistakes, that's only human
7. Recognize theirs, sure, but focus on yours. What have you learned since then?
8. If the answer is nothing, then spend some time in reflection
9. Focus on how you've grown as a person. Forgive yourself for past mistakes
10. Realize everyone is on this journey. Try to provide comfort

How to Believe in Anything and for It to Be All Right

1. Begin by focusing on your potential
2. Create a space or "buffer zone" between yourself and the belief you're expected to entertain
3. Extend a thin line of thought over the buffer zone to make contact with the idea
4. Pretend as if you have feelers or antennae; investigate the belief to see if it seems sour
5. Maintain a buffer zone around yourself on all sides, like a donut
6. This will help you feel safe when you come into contact with foreign ideas and strong opinions
7. If the item seems sweeter than it is sour, bring it in a little closer to examine it more fully
8. Stay calm, don't allow anything to erupt
9. Radiate your own pulse outward and watch how it interacts with the new belief
10. Bring things closer if they harmonize; if not, keep them at a distance

How to Catch and Tame a Bird

1. Recognize that, by their nature, birds react impulsively to their environment
2. Crouch near an alluring spot with a net or some other fabric
3. Allow the birds to come
4. Observe the birds and restrain yourself from using your net. This is very important
5. Allow the birds to leave. Pack away your net in whatever way seems fit 
6. Sit patiently near the area in a meditative posture 
7. Allow the birds to feed, and to come and go naturally
8. Absorb yourself in that moment, so that there are no peripheral thoughts
9. Carefully examine what the essence of the encounter can teach you, and how it could remain with you
10. Walk away when you feel at peace

How to Climb a Mountain

1. Prepare yourself for a long and difficult journey
2. Expect that weariness will come, along with exhilaration
3. Put one foot after the other
4. Allow the mind to work through your various concerns
5. But do this in a way that allows you to release them
6. Focus on your movement
7. Don't put too much pressure on yourself
8. Beware of false summits
9. Recognize others who are on the same journey
10. Repeat if things begin to feel too flat

How to Find Ghosts and How to Deal With Them

1. Begin by looking for the parts of people that are invisible
2. Come prepared with a microphone and a recorder, so that you can ask questions
3. But recognize that it is usually difficult to come into contact with these hidden things
4. Act cheerful and do a lot of listening
5. When the ghost flashes during the conversation, don't call the person out!
6. Hold your breath as if you were taking a picture, and continue to speak gently
7. Allow the encounter to work itself into your memory
8. Remember, it's often very difficult for people to deal with painful things
9. That's why they try to make them disappear
10. It's not very polite to try to point them out, even if you think it's in the person's best interest
11. Recognize that this will continue indefinitely throughout your life
12. Develop some sort of magic to alter the encounter so that it is neither frightening nor oppressing in any way
13. Be gentle, look inwards, and decide for yourself why it's important to accept imperfection
14. Talk about things with the people you love
15. Don't focus on scary things
16. Pay attention to what's living, and where there are possibilities

Why Writing Poetry Makes Sense and Why It Doesn't

1. In the process of writing a good poem, the poet comes into contact with the unknown
2. This involves a degree of risk and tests the poet's abilities
3. The poet is forced to fend for himself or herself against the inconsistencies of both the world and his own consciousness
4. This contact prevents the development of comfort zones
5. In this way, unresolved emotions and concepts are prevented from scabbing over
6. Rather, they are drawn out and used for growth
7. The poet begins to dance with his own shadow
8. He may then become more willing to dance with the shadows of others, which is a boon to the community
9. Embarking away from isolation encourages the poet's writing to become more fruitful for a broader audience
10. Everyone benefits

Why Poetry Doesn't Make Sense

1. Nobody cares
2. You never know what you're going to get
3. Good poetry creates more questions than answers
4. Few people have enough time to think as it is
5. You actually need to make time to read or write it
6. It's hard to talk about
7. It's often ugly
8. It's too sensitive
9. It creates an unnecessary weight
10. It often asks the reader to let go of something that helps them feel secure

What We Should Do About This

1. Nothing. Go about our daily lives as we have been
2. Or, begin reading and writing poems with a sense of humor
3. And, begin approaching our existential and emotional issues with a sense of humor
4. Give ourselves and everyone else a break
5. Recognize that learning about ourselves is a lifelong process
6. Recognize the importance of sharing stories and wisdom
7. Use poetry to cultivate a relationship with the unknown
8. Embrace the new possibilities in each day
9. Live more from the heart and less from the mind
10. Be more thankful; and happier

How to Cure an Indescribable Longing

1. Do not attempt to describe the longing, as it is by its nature indescribable
2. Allow it to overtake you and then drain from you, like an electric charge
3. Step back, take deep breaths
4. If thoughts about all the things you have to do begin to arise, suspend them in midair, and allow them to evaporate
5. Allow the indescribable longing to return, slowly if possible
6. Consider how it relates to your past and what you want to accomplish
7. Think about your other accomplishments. Perhaps you've satisfied this longing in the past, and are totally forgetting about it
8. Consider whether your indescribable longing is an artistic longing
9. If you believe it is, begin to accept the fact that it will never be satisfied
10. Rather than "completion," invest more stock in terms like discipline, exploration, tension, and development
11. Put aside all notions of audience appeal. Recognize that your indescribable longing may only lead to the creation of monstrosities.
12. It's important that these monstrosities are made
13. Some days you may be able to write from your gut, and with composure. Be sure to register this feeling, but know there is no sure way to establish this balance
14. Don't be too hard on yourself if you're putting in the time and the effort
15. If something feels boring or contrived, come at it from another angle
16. Repeat this process until things become spherical

I want a blue heaven
to sit in my lap like an orb
to be caught in my grip
to swing in my hip-bag

I want to command a light snow
so that the anxieties of the world
become mesmerized
and momentarily forgotten

I want the cleanest line of hope,
drawn up from the ground
like ice cold water, and kept
resting in a bowl

I want a magnitude of life
to be unearthed from the core
to be draped over every fence-top
to be brushed by fingers walking by

The thing about being on here on earth
is that there are always openings
to peer into other lives,
backwards or forwards in time

Sometimes we stare in one direction
for far too long;
maybe we saw something terrible
and can't bring ourselves to look away

The world must have great faith in us,
it must feel that we are ready
to balance the great responsibility
of looking

In the end what we saw
may not be as important
as where we chose to look

The strongest force of nature
is the desire to love

But just barely

Like when addiction
tries to keep things buried

Or when pain tries to retaliate
Or when sadness feels inescapable

But love always lingers in the background,
in the warm center of our bodies

Waiting patiently
for us to make the choice

The goal of all good art
is to make the world seem more
and more impossible

Like after staying indoors for weeks
and weeks, you wander outside one night
and behold the hovering moon

It glows like it's full of thousands, millions
of spirits

At the same time it is so singular,
and so quiet

It stirs the ancient memory
so that one feels the weight of time
and the simple blessing
of one's own existence

 Sometimes I feel like small stories
are the most valuable

The small chances of hope or pleasure
found day-to-day

The smaller the better,
the more you're scratched and clawed

your way into the strangest nook
and found something wonderful

hidden there;
the better