The common thing between this
dark descending slowly, and this winter bird
…and your melancholy
is that there’s no true reason behind any.
Don’t look for causes –
They are red herrings
meant to keep you from looking
at the answer behind:
The unchanging sky, where
all things come and go
in the folding and unfolding
of pure Emptiness.
Tonight, when the shore appears
Get off your boat
Leave your things behind
And enter alone…
Carry nothing, not even the lightest
For, even the smell of incense
That gave you peace thus far
Will weigh you down now,
The chants that kept you going
Will now keep your breath,
The ripples of the gong too
However thin
Will remind you of some mountain peak
That you wanted to climb again…
No, leave here at this threshold
Your longing, your tears, your peace,
Your reverence too…
Let the image of another god
Float away on the ripples
To some other shore, where
Someone else might need it
To point out her path –
And you go in now, just you,
Sit down inside yourself
Utterly naked, empty
Upon the throne that’s been waiting
To tell you the truth
About who you are.
—