By David Percival
More than Light
This cold gray morning under heavy dark clouds,
sudden brilliant beams from over the mountains
leave this corridor ablaze, yellow fall leaves like fire,
adobe walls glow in unnatural light.
I stop and breathe in this present surreal moment
and wonder who else sees this luminous display,
but only crows diving and frolicking as they fly to the east.
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By David Percival
More than Light
This cold gray morning under heavy dark clouds,
sudden brilliant beams from over the mountains
leave this corridor ablaze, yellow fall leaves like fire,
adobe walls glow in unnatural light.
I stop and breathe in this present surreal moment
and wonder who else sees this luminous display,
but only crows diving and frolicking as they fly to the east.
Minutes later it is gone and I walk on down the alley
under a gloomy overcast sky
and smile at a ragged man looking for cans in the trash.
Walking Meditation
Slow walking around the Zendo.
Turning the corner to the west
a cold wind slaps my face mindfully.
The sky at dusk, a deep shade of red.
To the south, the cemetery
hosts hundreds of swooping crows
dancing in the air above tall trees,
squawking at each other endlessly,
finally settling on bare branches for the night.
I pause to savor the colors and the circling crows
then turn and walk on into the wind.
(in the Japanese Waka style)
Tall Zen Center walls
don’t shield from the radio next door
or smells of cooking meat.
We walk on under playing crows.
This is our world, the Dharma.
David Percival, True Wonderful Roots, is a founding member of Rainbow Sangha in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and offers marketing support for the Mindfulness Bell.
