We don’t often put
P E N
to
P A P E R
l i t e r a l l y
but it never leaves the pages
of our lives
that are continually
being
written
edited
re-written.
It was about four years ago when I read
A L L O W A B L E S
by
Niki Giovanni
and then
B A M
there it was
falling out of a book
that I didn’t even remember
I had placed it
and then within an hour
in a post from Frank Ostaseski
I killed a spider
Not a murderous brown recluse
Nor even the black widow
And if the truth were told this
Was only a small
Sort of papery spider
Who should have run
When I picked up the book
But she didn’t
And she scared me
And I smashed her
I don’t think
I am allowed
To kill something
Because I am
Frightened
The poem didn’t have the impact in 2013
that it did when I re-read it
July 13, 2017
A C C I D E N T L Y
C O I N C I D E N T L Y
I N T E N T I O N A L L Y
Is this a simple concept?
TO REFRAIN FROM KILLING ANY LIVING BEING, CULTIVATE THE PRACTICE OF HONORING ALL LIFE
Thich Nhat Hahn once said:
“Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I vow to cultivate compassion and learn ways to protect the lives of people, animals and plants. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, I cannot condone any act of killing in the world in my thinking and in my way of life.”
Q U E S T I O N :
How do you we practice t h a t quote
as we see and read of the violence in our world?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh of the Day:
This is where our Pen comes to Paper
This is where the
P O E M
of our lives
is not only written
not only read
not only heard
not only seen
but truly
e x p e r i e n c e d
L I V E D
and it starts
with my
pen
and it starts
with my
paper
and it starts
with my
poem
not someone else’s
j o i n
me
so that the poem
not only becomes
epic
but continues long past the last stroke of
our
pens