Composting a Life
© Marie Bortolotto 2024
Without warning
the tower
toppled
brick
upon
brick
helter-skelter
mirrored
by stars
in
the
midnight
sky.
Ruins
for
desert
scavengers
and
archeologists
of memory
who dig
sift
puzzle
over
bones
of
dead
voices
beneath
the goddess
of the sun's
luminous gaze:
she
who
waits
for you --
she
who
sees
through
the succulent lips
of
your
thorny
cacti
into
the fungal-rich soils
of
your
buried
Aliveness.
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| Marie Bortolotto |
That Wondrous Star
She is that bright and wondrous star
forever raised above the great wide sea
of this world, sparkling with merit,
a shining guide.
O voyager, whoever you may be,
when you find yourself in stormy seas
in danger of foundering in the tempests
and far from land, lest you sink and drown,
fix your eyes on this bright star; call out to her
Follow her and you will never lose your way.
Appeal to her and you will never lose hope.
Think of her always and you will never stray.
With her holding you, you cannot fall.
With her protection, you cannot fear.
When she leads, you cannot tire.
With her grace you will come safely
through to journey’s end.
Then you will know for yourself
why she bears the name “Star of the Sea.”
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153)
Poems by Santoka Taneda
today again,
soaking wet
I walk on an unknown road
there is nothing else I can do;
I walk on and on
my heart is weary —
the mountains, the sea
are too beautiful
the breeze from the mountains
in the wind bell
makes me want to live
alone
listening
to a woodpecker
picking
the nameless flower
I offer it to buddha
all day long I said nothing
the sound of the waves
alone, I watch the moon
sink behind the mountain
just as it is --
it rains, I get wet, I walk
No path but this one --
I walk alone
A child dead.
And a mad search for a magic seed.
It’s a story as old as dust.
Brave up, my sisters.
The day will come
when you run
from house
to house.
People will meet you at the door,
look you in the eye,
and they won’t let you in.
I’m sorry, they’ll say.
But we can’t help you.
Listen.
When everyone you love is gone,
when everything you have
has been taken away,
you’ll find the Path
waiting
underneath
every rock
on the
road.
These are the words of Kisagotami.
from Matty Weingast’s book: The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns
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| Marie Bortolotto The clear water sparkles like crystal, You can see through it easily, right to the bottom. My mind is free from every thought, Nothing in the myriad realms can move it. Since it cannot be wantonly roused, Forever and forever it will stay unchanged. When you have learned to know in this way, You will know there is no inside or out!' -Han-Shan |
Seclusion is happiness for one who is content;
who has heard the Dhamma and clearly sees.
Freedom from ill-will is happiness in the world,
for one harmless towards living beings.
Dispassion is happiness in regard to the world,
for one transcending all sense desires.
But the dispelling of the conceit ‘I am’
~ this is truly the highest happiness.
Buddha: Udana 2.1
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| Marie Bortolotto Art |
Sumana ~ Flowering Jasmine
Walk through
the mind
all day
and
all night.
When you find
each thought
ending
right
where
it began—
here your circling ends.
Tissa ~ The Third
Why stay here
in your little
dungeon?
If you really want
to be free,
make
every
thought
a thought of freedom.
Break your chains.
Tear down the walls.
Then walk the world a free woman.
-from Matty Weingast’s book: The First Free Women: Poems of the Early Buddhist Nuns
