Poems to Nurse the Aching Spirit...

[RestlessSoul]

I may make regular, or perhaps infrequent, additions to this thread. I invite others to do the same.

This one is by Jalaladdin Rumi

Seek love, seek love!
It is the diamond of your being.
Seek the One, seek the One!
He is yours for eternity
but do not call Him yours for what is yours
is only sorrow and longing

 

[RestlessSoul]

Throughout the frosty night
I lay awake. When morning bells
rang out, my heart grew clear-
upon this fleeting dreamworld,
dawn is breaking.

- Hasegawa Shume

 

[Sirona]

The old pond,
A frog jumps in:
Plop!

Matsuo Bashô: Frog Haiku

Basho's Frog Haiku: 32 Translations

 

[Maninthemiddle]

In the depths of despair, my spirit did ache,
Burdened by sorrows I could not forsake.
But a glimmer of hope began to emerge,
As I discovered the teachings of Buddhism's surge.

With open arms, it welcomed my weary soul,
Offering solace, making me feel whole.
The Buddha's wisdom, a guiding light,
Illuminated my path, banishing the night.

In the stillness of meditation's embrace,
I found tranquility, a sacred space.
The chaos within me began to subside,
As mindfulness bloomed, I could no longer hide.

Suffering, impermanence, and non-self,
These truths unveiled, brought wisdom and wealth.
For the aching spirit, now soothed and at peace,
Buddhism's embrace, a balm that won't cease.

Compassion and kindness, the pillars of truth,
Nurturing my spirit, renewing my youth.
With each breath, I let go of my pain,
Embracing the present, without any strain.

For Buddhism taught me to embrace what is,
To find contentment in life's simple bliss.
My aching spirit now dances with ease,
As I journey on, embracing life’s breeze.

No longer burdened by sorrow's cruel sting,
My spirit finds solace, it takes to the wing.
Through Buddhism's teachings, my heart finds release,
Aching no more, but filled with inner peace.

So let us walk this path, hand in hand,
Guided by Buddha's teachings, so grand.
May our spirits find solace, forever eased,
In Buddhism's embrace, we find our release.

Written by Myself

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.
Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

 

[RestlessSoul]

anyone lived in a pretty how town
(with up so floating many bells down)
spring summer autumn winter
he sang his didn’t he danced his did.
Women and men(both little and small)
cared for anyone not at all
they sowed their isn’t they reaped their same
sun moon stars rain
children guessed(but only a few
and down they forgot as up they grew
autumn winter spring summer)
that noone loved him more by more
when by now and tree by leaf
she laughed his joy she cried his grief
bird by snow and stir by still
anyone’s any was all to her
someones married their everyones
laughed their cryings and did their dance
(sleep wake hope and then)they
said their nevers they slept their dream
stars rain sun moon
(and only the snow can begin to explain
how children are apt to forget to remember
with up so floating many bells down)
one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stooped to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
Women and men(both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain

Is that your own? Reminds me in style, of ee cummings

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Is that your own? Reminds me in style, of ee cummings

Probably because it is his most recognized work. (I should have added attribution by I didn't think it necessary.)

 

[Revoltingest]

There once was a red headed lass,
who stood in surf up to her knees.
It doesn't yet rhyme,
but should, given time.
The tide will come in pretty fast.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Probably because it is his most recognized work. (I should have added attribution by didn't this it necessary.)

Well I didn't recognise it, hence the question. And I've read a few of his, which is why I recognised the style.

 

[RestlessSoul]

The Beloved is closer to me
Than my own self

The problem is this:
I am far from Him

What am I to do?
Whom can I tell about this?

The Brloved is so close to me
and I
am far
far away

Abu Sa’Ide

 

[rocala]

My heart has grown capable of taking on all forms

It is a pasture for gazelles

A table for the Torah

A convent for Christians

Ka'bah for the Pilgrim

Whichever the way love’s caravan shall lead

That shall be the way of my faith.

Ibn Arabi

 

[ChristineM]

A Stray Cat

I've often wondered to myself
what causes cats to stray;
are they fleeing from a cruel life
and trying to run away?

Or are they lost and far from home
and don't know what to do
for food and shelter from the storm
and so they turn to you.

One day I looked out in my yard
and what did I behold
a stray cat sitting rigidly
and shivering from the cold.

He looked like he was starving
his eyes were filled with fear
but when I tried to comfort him
he wouldn't let me near.

So I tempted him with cat food
and when I stroked his fur
he answered with a timid meow
and then began to purr.

I took him in and fed him,
then he prowled around my house,
was he just getting acquainted,
or was he looking for a mouse?

In time my stray adopted me
and claimed me for his own
he told my friends and family
'This is my new home'.

He'd found what he was looking for
a place of loving care
from which he'd have to stray no more
and be happy living there.

So if a stray comes to your door
and meows 'Can I come in? '
just welcome him with loving arms
and he will never stray again.

James Donovan

 

[blü 2]

The Fly​

Little fly,
Thy summer’s play
My thoughtless hand
Has brushed away.

Am not I
A fly like thee?
Or art not thou
A man like me?

For I dance
And drink and sing,
Till some blind hand
Shall brush my wing.

If thought is life
And strength and breath,
And the want
Of thought is death,

Then am I
A happy fly,
If I live,
Or if I die.


William Blake (1794)

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

Personally I'm not a fan of encouraging self complimenting attitudes, nor am I a fan of self-loathing, but I love the creativity of this poem made by Abdullah Shoaib.
And I suppose it can still do some good to the aching spirit when it's not taken to any extremes:


I’m very ugly
So don’t try to convince me that
I am a very beautiful person
Because at the end of the day
I hate myself in every single way
And I’m not going to lie to myself by saying
There is beauty inside of me that matters
So rest assured I will remind myself
That I am a worthless, terrible person
And nothing you say will make me believe
I still deserve love
Because no matter what
I am not good enough to be loved
And I am in no position to believe that
Beauty does exist within me
Because whenever I look in the mirror I always think
Am I as ugly as people say?


Read this same poem from the bottom up, and you'll see it in a very different light.

 

[blü 2]

Probably because it is his most recognized work. (I should have added attribution by I didn't think it necessary.)

Good call.

Pity cummings didn't write more of that caliber.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Love is our mother and
the way of the prophet.
Yet, it is in our nature
to fight with Love.
We can’t see you, mother,
hidden behind dark veils
woven by ourselves.

- Jalalludin Rumi

 

[RestlessSoul]

I became the sea
and each atom flamed out of me in glory
I became fire
and each moment became an eternity

- Jalalludin Rumi

 

[RestlessSoul]

I make my home
in ruins

How often
the ruin hides
a treasure.

‘Attar

 

[mjouelle]

Poem/Prayer I wrote:
God,

I know you are there. You are everywhere. I know you are there like the air that I breath.

When I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, your guidance and presence came to me so solidly, in all my Being.

You were my strength. You carried me through the perils of the abyss.

When all had abandoned your sheep. When the sheep had succumbed to reckless self-hatred.

The shadows of a past lost, painful stones were thrown

Doubt and fear in every cell of my frail body.

I felt you carry me out of the despair, like a lamb that had been captured and tortured by the Wolf in sheep’s clothing.

I knew I couldn’t survive the Wolf and the pain he inflicted without the surrender. The surrender, knees to the ground, hands to the sky, heart and soul presented to God.

God, my shepherd, you delivered me from the Wolf.

You pulled me from the hold of the claws of the Wolf, carried me for miles on your back.

I was battered and bruised. You healed my wounds, one step, one mile at a time.

I began to smell the freshness of the grass again. I began to hear the birds chirping and the slow steady flow of the river. The water, it purifies me.

God, I know you are there. You are everywhere. I know because you delivered me from the claws of the Wolf in sheep’s clothing. You carried me through many valleys as my wounds healed, one step, one mile at a time.