A Sangre de Cristo Surrender

-
A friend and I were driving from Colorado Springs down to Santa Fe yesterday. The following poem virtually leapt onto the page of my notebook as we skirted the Sangre de Cristo range of the Rocky Mountains. I present it here in pretty much first-draft form.



 
 
 
 
 
A Sangre de Cristo Surrender
 
 
Dying slowly,
and comfortably,
must be similar to this...
Dying joyfully,
and wholeheartedly,
must be just a little bit like this...
 
Like looking out at mountains
rooted deep within your heart,
and watching clouds billow like the warm breath
of a billion prayers offered up to heaven.
 
Like dancing with so many antelope
across an endless field,
and sinking like snowmelt
deeper and deeper into the earth.
 
You know me well.
You know what words we've had.
But good and bad are now so very far away.
Everything is like a smile growing wider,
and brighter,
until it fuses with sun.
 
 
 
Thank you for reading! The editing of That Which We Already Know is going well. Peace.
 
Mark
 
 
Copyright 2015 by Mark R. Frank
 
 
 
 
 
 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dogen's 'Flower of Emptiness' - Part 2

-
Image
Dogen’s Shobogenzo contains a fascicle known as Kuge , or Flower of Emptiness . As discussed in Part 1, kuge is a term that is sometimes used to describe apparitions caused by cataracts or some other eye disease – ‘flowers in the sky’, so to speak. Within the context of a Buddhist discussion, kuge is sometimes used in reference to our obscured vision of ‘ things as it is ’ – vision which presumably becomes clarified over the course of our meditative practice. In Kuge , Dogen uses our more commonsensical understanding of ‘flowers in the sky’ as a means to discuss the true nature of emptiness , shunyata , as he understands it. Thus, the translation of Kuge as The Flower of Emptiness (Nishiyama, 1975). For those who have not yet had the opportunity to read Part 1 , I will reiterate the caution regarding interpreting in a nihilistic way Buddhist teachings related to emptiness . Without correct understanding of emptiness we might misinterpret the teaching that no thing...
Read more

A Buddhist Takes Communion / A Buddhist Take On Communion

-
Image
Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” – Luke 22:19-20, NRSV   Yes, at the risk of prompting the eyes of many Buddhist-leaning readers to begin glazing over (What, is this going to be a sermon or something?), and at the risk of prompting the eyes of many Christian-leaning readers to narrow in suspicion (What does this Buddhist know about Christianity, anyway?), I’m going consider how the Lord’s Supper might appear if viewed through a Buddhist lens. In doing so I hope that Buddhist and Christian alike will glimpse something that leads to deeper spiritual understanding within each respective tradition.       Perhaps a little personal background will assuage your curiosity as to why I’m even con...
Read more

Eclipses, Ice Cream, I Love You, Goodbye

-
Image
Our family lost its matriarch this past April. Darlene was an incredibly accomplished professional woman—having traveled the world as part of a wife and husband ministerial team. She was retired by the time I got to know her, though, and most people in our circle simply referred to her as Mom or Granny. Darlene holding one of our newest family members. Having married into the clan somewhat late in life, and with my biological mother still alive, I never quite felt comfortable calling her Mom. Instead, I settled into calling her Darlene. Regardless of what I called her, though, as my birth mother slowly faded away into the haze of dementia, Darlene was there for me as the perfect mother-in-law. But there were times when I felt like an imperfect son-in-law. You see, Darlene poured out more love than I was able to accept. She knew I loved plants and gardening, for instance, and she just kept them coming. Even after we got young cats that made keeping houseplants nearly impossible, the...
Read more