Confidence: Loving-kindness Deepens

Today I see my heart at work,
Engaging with the practice
Of loving-kindness.

Loud drilling
Rattles my fillings,
This crazy constructor
Keeps re-appearing,

But turning towards
Rage, irritation, fear and tension,
I eagerly greet each,
Open and there find a compassionate heart,

As bliss, peace and loving kindness
Surge and spill all over
All disturbances
And intermingle.

I’ve cultivated
Loving kindness
From above
For many days,

And now from below
The heart stretches upwards
As after a long sleep
To embrace its cultivated counterpart;

It’s as if the natural heart
Desires to connect the dots
Between itself and the compassion
Welling up from my steady practice.

On the embers of loving-kindness I blow,
Yet letting the more tumultuous visitors know
They too are welcome here,
All belong,
None is excluded,
None is wrong.