Three poems on mindfulness

I once dreamt of all roads leading to Jamaica,

as I stroke the walls of my suburban teenage bedroom.

The green of the garden never changes, rosemary to my childache;

cacophony of crows coalesce with late summer cloudy sky.

–

After ten years traveling the world,

how fascinating to still; learn my inner ecology.

I sit, with unlevel hips, relaxed into a tender, a home, a shanti, an om;

my tongue tart with the bitter after of dark chocolate.

–

It’s been 30 months since I’ve made true love.

Each day, another encounter with this body:

fingertips to the velvet of my inner thigh;

water across my corneas, lashes in tangled delight.

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These poems were inspired by poetry from the Japanese Buddhist Monk Ikkyū Sojun from the book The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy.