Liz and Mary Mantra
May I find the peace, the calm, the strength to let go of my craving…
wanting to know, wanting to have, wanting to be.
May I surrender and rest right here.
Do not wander. Do not wander.
Liz is my teacher. Mary is my friend and retired teacher who travels to be with family and friends, working on whatever needs to be done. I see her for the month of June when she arrives at the farm. She retreats during the winter to live in her tent in the desert.
Photo and text: Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di
Untitled Prayer
Tormented souls surround me.
I am one myself.
Some I choose to like.
Others I do not.
Some I choose to love.
Some I can forgive.
Others I choose to condemn with my fear or hate.
This is a madness.
All are suffering.
Some crack slightly.
Some shatter.
Some explode.
Many love in the midst of their suffering.
As always, they parade before me,
One after another.
May I bear witness
Offering only my love.
Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di
UNDERTOW
Submerged in the rippling water,
My toes gently sink in the sand.
I step into the next wave,
And feel a strong pull as it recedes.
A riptide can be dangerous,
But it is I who make it so.
My fear of disappearing,
Of leaving all behind,
Keep me from the joy of the deep water.
I cling to the shoreline,
And imagine what it will offer.
Let me possess the calm and faith
To go instead with what my heart knows.
To go out willingly with the riptide,
To swim in the swells of deep waters.
Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di
Photo: Zhong Fen li Bao yu Di