December Exchange complete! Enjoy two sample poems.

Dear Sangha,

The December issue of the exchange is complete! 

This issue features the work of seven poets, some regulars and some new faces. We also have a prose poem and a prose-ish poem to enjoy. Don C. contributed the photos for our two prompts. I hope that this Exchange brings joy for the New Year.

I have also upgraded the functionality of the website. Folks can now use a Google Form to receive PDFs of past Exchanges and receive the current one. I just ask that people include their tradition or a word or two about their practice.

Please enjoy these two sample poems from the Exchange:

For Too Long

By Piero F.

For too long now, I have confined myself. I haven’t touched the pebble, or laid my hands on the tree, or admired the colors of the feathers of the duck.

For too long now, I haven’t seen you in the clouds, or in the reflections on the pond. I have not felt you in the morning breeze, or sensed you in the empty spaces.

For too long now, I haven’t allowed the squirrels to look me in the eyes, or listened to what the birds had to tell me. I haven’t heard you in the whispers beyond the noises.

For too long now, I have not felt you gently kissing my feet as I walk. I have not noticed the leaves dancing with the wind. I have not seen you in what is dying and what is being born. I have not reflected on the impermanence of all.

For too long now, I have not seen you shining in the drops of water on the blades of grass.

I have not been paying attention.

I haven’t felt that you and I are one.

But today I am out again,

I am here now, in ecstasy

With you.

With me.

When Suffering Comes

by Jade K.

When suffering comes

there is the lotus

when the pain comes,

when my fingers 

drop even the hand

of my lover,

when the rain

assaults my eyes,

when time comes

to a jagged point

and my memories sting - 

by stopping,

then looking deeply,

I find a cure,

I find a flower.