Wednesday, February 14, 2018

HOW I MEDITATE


There's never silence within me
I listen to my spontaneous chatter
Of words unpolished by convention or poetic norm
A rushing stream of flashes 
In repetitive monotonous form

Though my body sits still
I watch those words prance
In serious or meaningless dance
Most often identical
To yesterday and the days before
"Will it rain today?"
"Ugh, he's rotten to the core." 

Still I sit
Because someone said I must
If I want to ease those fears
Clear the dust that clouds my sight
Relax in my own story
Recognize that in the spaces
between those thoughts 
repeated in a jumble, a jungle 
Of words
Is where silently
I Am


(For Poets United.)

14 comments:

  1. Wow! I too have ceaseless monologue, often repetitive, often searching for something I forgot. I asked my students once if they had it too and they said NO, You are NUTs! But yes, to let it happen and keep returning to the silence is the song in which i find myself too. Wonderful poem.

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  2. A sacred space to sit, and relax in one's own story. Calming and nourishing piece.

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  3. That internal monologue can be a blessing and a curse, but that's good advice, to relax in your own story and listen to the silence in between.

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  4. Words are life- never sleeping, always at work-keeping our minds ticking Lovely!

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  5. I, too, tried meditation with the same result: a cluttering jumble of words and images. Eventually I learned to sit with my story, in images, and that made all the difference. It became the my Personal Mythology, and continues to this day. Love your poem,

    Elizabeth

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  6. It's true.. though they say it is not silence that is required to meditate but the free flow of thoughts and mindfulness...

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  7. Nothing is uglier than a prattle of nonsense or more beautiful than a silence of understanding.

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  8. I am one of those odd folk who cut the words off in mid-sentence and listen to the silence. I liked this foray into your meditation. I like the relaxing in your story. Wonderful.

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  9. I love those closing lines! My inner chatter is pretty wordy, too. Smiles.

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  10. It's wonderful to keep a watch on the mind that's often a disobedient child. I love that in between space and finding the ever calm 'I Am'. This poem itself is a meditation. Beautiful, Myrna.

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  11. This made me think of Neil Diamond's lovely song "I am, I said".
    Beautiful write.

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  12. You've described it so well! "Though my body sits still / I watch those words prance" describes me too. But I have been told that IS the essence of meditation: to let the thoughts happen and watch them, unattached.

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  13. There are different ways to meditate. Sitting and staring for hours on end is my favourite meditation...usually transfixed by a thing of beauty.I have been like this since I remember and as a child I was always in trouble for day dreaming.Most of my student year at lectures were spent day dreaming looking out of the window. Dolce far niente is a term which could have been coined for me:)I have never had a headache in my life.

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  14. Even when words are strung together without meaning they can act powerfully and help us unwind, de-stress, meditate and recharge our spent energy. I liked the way you approached this topic, Myrna!

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