Construe: Mind Reading

In my previous entry
I seem to have anticipated the future,
For, speaking of interruptions,
Today I got a diagnosis:
Shingles
Is what I have;

I decided
To feed this daemon,
And so I asked it
What it wanted.

It said, “I want compassion,
I need respect;
Then, I will be at peace,
Then, I will go back to sleep.”

And so I fed this creature,
A large red pepper shaped being,
With blood shot eyes at its apex,
Until it was satisfied.

Where it disappeared,
Horse appeared,
To carry me, defend me,
And abide with me.

And so, I will continue to
Feed the virus to satisfaction,
Giving it all the peace
I can until it rests.

Peace
To this being,
Peace
To all beings,
May all beings
Find peace.

Constructively: Making Room

More sorting,
More discarding;
Lately, this is how
I spend my time off,

Measured in
File cabinets cleaned out,
Papers disposed of,
Shelves and floor de-cluttered.

It’s like a major operation,
A mission,
To get this place
In shape;

But, for what?
Moving perhaps?
Or my next
Great adventure?

That will have to wait
Until it comes;
For like all my decisions
I never really know the consequences,

This de-possessioning venture
Being only the latest
In a series of results;
Or maybe,

Something will interrupt me,
Some new crisis perhaps?
And so, I still need my practice
To help prepare for that too,

But until then,
This is it,
Unless I find something
More productive to do;
Meanwhile, the sifting continues.

Constructive: Pain Remedy

Low back pain
Has returned,
Distressing and unpleasant,
What a nasty sting!

The weather
Is the culprit
Once again,
As the humidity rises;

Breathing in
Breathing out
On the count of ten
Is my reply,

As being with breathing
Is less difficult
Than inhabiting
This acute pain in my side;

In the moment I abide,
Breath in the foreground,
All else in the background,
Yet my attention includes everything,

Broadly viewed
The entirety is here,
Reducing fear
And producing concentration,

The minutes passing by
In relative ease,
Though the pain increases
The suffering diminishes.

The world seen as a whole
Brings stability,
Like a rock I sit,
Holding my position,
Facing each passing second.