Gone, gone, all the way gone to the other shore...

The Oldies

2009-01-28T07:44:13Z

Found a whole bunch of old poems, song lyrics, and other writings that I thought were gone for good... fun to look back at these after several years.

Inyan

he is soft and shapeless
and his blood is blue;
well so is me
and so is you.

in a place of darkness
he made one two,
and shaped the sea
his blood ran through.

the power in the waters
began to rise
and made of spirit,
it became the skies.

a voice spoke in the darkness
the first of times,
said, "I am Sky,
the giver of life."

---------------------------------

Happy Dead Amphibian

how dare you
crawl out of the sea
to did what you do
and how dare me?

the first gasp for air
and gasp for a she,
ambitions of now
with your rich family.

well look what you did,
happy dead amphibian.
all smiles in the end
my greedy wet friend.

i've got ghosts in my gut
all sporting webbed feet
cause i'm such a slut
and you'd never retreat.

rescue those kids
before it's too late
don't let them die
they have lives to hate.

well look what you did,
happy dead amphibian.
all smiles in the end
all smiles in the end.

how dare you
and how dare me
crawl out of the sea
and do what we deed.

-------------------------------------------------

End of Talking Carp

when my face falls off
and my bones fall apart,
i don't know where you will be.
you might think my name
and my blood are the same,
but neither of these things are me.

when you stare into the sun
as if it's the only one
your foolishness keeps me warm.
at the end of the day
when i'm done with the play
i know i know i know i've done you harm.

such a silly game
we play when we're awake,
continued in even our dreams.
and i love your love i do
though it burns me through and through,
boy you know i'm just exactly what i seems.

oh the shark bit the fish,
hadn't eaten in days,
and sang "please don't
let this feeling swim away."
got a lot of bodies
on my fishing hook,
but that won't bring
back yesterday.

it costs your death for your life,
so better not to love your wife,
when everything you love will bring you pain.
to love your death makes more sense,
from this side of the fence,
where everything is going down the drain.

the shark bit the fish,
hadn't eaten in days,
and sang "please don't
let this feeling swim away."
got a lot of bodies
on my fishing hook,
but that won't bring
back yesterday.

-------------------------------------------------

though you may be from mars,
your voice still makes me cry.
i try to see so far,
to know before i die.
big train blocks the tracks,
doesn't know the past.
the wood is full of cracks,
and i feel old too fast.

goodbye to forever time,
to dogshit on the lawn.
will i kiss your face again
before one of us is gone?
hold on to my hand you evil woman
and we will find our way to oblivion.

---------------------------------------

drunk on captivity
he looks for a home,
not to fall back on,
but to slowly become.
she tries to break out
of flowers in particular,
tells him to come along
though he's been there before.

they lay down together,
hating past lovers,
loving each other
with blood on their teeth.
the moon sitting quietly,
a long way from this affair,
shows the shine in her hair
but not what's underneath.

things might not be ok, no,
things might not be ok.
little pieces of life,
they might feel nice,
but that's never the way
that they stay.

i might not be ok, love,
you might not be ok.
what's burning inside
seems to be the whole ride,
i don't think that it goes away.
i don't think that it goes away.

---------------------------------------

you were almost out of air,
racing for the silver skin
and if you never made it there
whoa god you'd be so vague now.

you have a glass yellow face
and a curly red crown
and a shiny brown head
and you never look down.

your smiles are real
how often they come,
teach me to do that,
i'd like to know how.

----------------------------------------

in the fall
attention drifted,
she stumbled naked
to his room.

i was drunk
my gloom unlifted,
the carpet sang me
a dreadful tune.

i saw her soon
crying in the moon,
he must not know
what a flower's for.

i held her tight
and it felt alright,
like a dying wave
pulled from the shore.

i am disappearing,
i am disappearing.
when i look for me,
not a thing to see
and that's what i've been fearing.

i am disappearing,
emptiness i'm nearing.
it's hard to find
a man behind
this body that i am steering.

now i carry
a beastly urge
to rid this vile
man of life.

'tis a wish
i long to purge,
i think i'd do it
with a knife.

and in this strife
i spurn my wife,
though still i
often laud her.

might sound gruff
this kind of stuff,
'tis my ideal
fodder.

i am disappearing,
i am disappearing.
when i look for me,
not a thing to see
and that's what i've been fearing.

i am disappearing,
emptiness i'm nearing.
it's hard to find
a man behind
this body that i am steering.

-----------------------------------------------

Hersal (Right On Time)

burrows in
to ears of bystanders,
shaking the frame
of their torsos

with otherworldly forms
displayed upon
ordinary piano.
The mystical

Fives chug-a-chug ever onward
along Cliffside, Neuron,
Meadow, and Wind

like a genitalia avalanche
barrels down Cartoon Mountain,
growing and roaring.

Hersal grew so fast, he
died by pork & beans
or

hitting the bottom
of the Mountain
first.

---------------------------------------

what dared take the
first breath of air,
crawled up gasping

for oxygen and
fucking? with
ambitions of family
barbeques, naked
cheerleaders, automobiles,

doorbells,
a sense of
satisfaction?

how could you?

-----------------------------------------

we first met in buddy guy's hotel
room.

he was naked i think,
flat on his stomach,
unconscious, with all
his hair cut off, it wasn't
him at all. not even

close. you were still
in awe, watching over
him while i urinated
quietly in the corner

in what appeared to
be a toilet

but was actually a
toilet-shaped guitar
(very expensive)

and as i left we planned
to meet under less surreal
circumstances, girl.

-------------------------------

not a thing as ugly
within me
as the vastness of
my jealousy.

grows as an old
pile of letters
accumulating in
the corner of
my shelter.

drives nearly
every action in
which i've engaged
that has led to
suffering.

but my guilt is
so beautiful,
big and warm,
helps me love.

---------------------------------------

if anybody has
found even the illusion
of value in this chaotic
barage of indescribable
emotion and nonsensical
stimulus,

please fill me in.

---------------------------------------

i am in ann arbor.
where can all this snot come from?

ashley brought me soup.
could it come from the mysterious emptiness?

the snot, not the soup.

----------------------------------------

Girl With Dog

you are walking towards the road,
you have a dog.
i am driving on the road.
i hope you see me coming
cause i'm not stopping.

oh girl with dog,
why won't you be my wife?
we could live in an apartment
that's fine with having pets.
oh girl with dog,
marry me tonight,
then we'll hang out tomorrow
and make sure we don't hate each other.

though your dog may be a boy or a girl,
you are definitely a girl.
i hope your dog is on a leash,
cause i'm not stopping
and i'd hate to hit your dog with my car.

oh girl with dog,
why won't you be my wife?
we could live in an apartment
that's fine with having pets.
oh girl with dog,
marry me tonight,
then we'll hang out tomorrow
and make sure we don't hate each other.

you are a girl with a dog,
i am a boy with a car.
you are a girl with a dog,
i am a boy with a car.
yeah, yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah... (repeat)

-------------------------------------------

cold day
slow walk
soft shoes
can't talk

changes
long gone
old heart
moves on

it's a tired climb
to the solitude of only mind.

lost cause
sit still
blast off
he will

nice car
dead life
brain fight
new wife

it's a tired climb
to the solitude of only mind.

---------------------------------------

A Way To Go

a girl, she is the kind
who does just what she likes
on various nights
and nobody admits that they mind.

well, i used to mind,
but the breakfasts of pain,
they turned me to rain.
now i'm leaving you people behind.

hey, it's a way to go,
can't think of a better,
to radiant lake
where the horizon is fake,
and every lie is lifted by the sun.

hey, it's a way to go,
can't think of a better.
but after a taste,
you'll find it's a waste,
and maybe you'll get out of this alive.
i hope that you get out of this alive.

oh, she'll make you blind.
you'll be lost in the snow,
shouldn't i know?
well we all know what you're trying to find.

ok, i'll try not to laugh.
sure things could work out,
of this there's no doubt,
but come on buddy, you do the math.

but hey, it's a way to go,
can't think of a better,
to radiant lake
where the horizon is fake,
and every lie is lifted by the sun.

your life may be
nothing but a falling feather,
or something you found
on either side of the ground,
well i know my life's nothing at all.
i know my life's nothing at all.

a way to go. it's a way to go.
it's a way to go.

-------------------------------------------

Q: LIFE PUZZLE?
A: exploding roller coaster.

Q: LOVE PUZZLE?
A: warm functioning breasts.

Q: TO SCREW IN A LIGHT BULB?
A: one to screw it in and _____ to _________.

Q: WHY DO I DO IT?
A: berries taste amazing.

it is difficult,
making the full
commitment to one's
particular form
of awareness,

hence the poor
scientists picking
apart the empty
material that
shapes their
dreams.

---------------------------------------------

being born gives me
a headache. what the
hell happened last
night?

------------------------------------------------

self sensation wavers
slightly in the general
vicinity of

concept body frame,
limited only by
expectation of
continued imprisonment.

be careful! don't
fall into yourself!

it's a long way down.

-------------------------------------------

flower to flower, what
part is not just life?
be unawake and a seed
or conscious and decomposing.

stare at crying
faces with crappy paint
streaking all over their
cheeks, laugh at the paint
with a weird stuck smile
and eyelids forced closed,
with your insides cleaned
out. i'll laugh with ya
Pops, cause we have inside
jokes we each have
yet to hear.

oh, fuck you for
that one time you
yelled at me on the
phone like i was
ungrateful.

you show those
whateverthehellyoumeet
next, i'm right behind
you, just give me some
time to figure out how
stupid and silly all
of this breathing shit
is.

it is
then that we will
battle evil ghosts
as an invincible
duo of the afterlife,
saving every skeleton
princess.

-------------------------------------------------

he wrote everything
i will ever write with
his genitals,

with his
total insane devotion

to a woman nobody
ever deserved. i inherited

his healthy dose of
delusion,

now he's gone.
he was beautiful,
i loved him a lot.

-------------------------------------------------

Ian,

odd bond. just
drunk enough. the
roles, roles, rolls
rawls. the sidelines,
sidelines, while my
heart subverted,
wrestled. good fun.

your friend,
ryan

p.s. HAIKU

at the three-headed
dog, shit flies through pipes over
the heads of poets.

-------------------------------------------------

fades in, lives
timelessly when
sleeping, almost
cries, needs a
drummer who can
hit the snare just
late enough.

cringe.

-----------------------------------------------

to detroit.
haunted by each thing
that hurts him in his
dreams. knives
everywhere.

----------------------------------------------

indifferent to evolution,
hardwired for fucking,
how annoying.

-------------------------------------------------

learns there are many
forms of malnutrition
and many don't involve
food, his eye has
been twitching.

-------------------------------------------------

eats a little bit, looks
out the window at nothing
in particular. he feels
amazingly misunderstood
at best. running out

of enthusiasm towards
even one thing, he can't
believe she played him
that song, what a cruel
thing to do. would
gladly

give various body
parts to spend a day
with an unpredictable
stranger, hearing
something he hasn't
heard before, happy
and sober

all at once.

-------------------------------------------------

fills the day with
anything at all, moving
between places, talking
to strangers, trying to
fit comfortably into the
illusion, doing his part,
whatever that may be
(open to suggestions).

forgets the difference
between life and death,
can't wrap his mind
around it anymore,
it's gone. that is
an interesting theory
you have there, that
theories don't matter,
perhaps it is true!

he can't remember how
to set aside the weight
of things just right.

he should have listened
to kyra, here come the flies,
here they come.

----------------------------------

flat and towering over
endless falling, sun
sinking into its many
magic pits, loading
personal settings,
keyboard works right now,
he prices fishnet stockings,
always almost fired, loves
explosions.

prays to feel the ground
again that way, the way
he did that night on the
Notch Trail, almost alone,
better than alone. frowns
at the mess splattered over
heaven, wishes that Buffalo
had taken him out for good,
a way to go, can't think
of a better.

longs for an end
to longing, one hand
on her back, one holds
the gravel, and the third?
don't ask that question!

loves to consider various
graves, still partial to
being eaten by sharks,
a rabbi in a clown suit
will deliver his eulogy.
he plans to attend,

missing
some limbs, a smile your way
from the guest of honor...
then his journey begins
to that night in the
Badlands, tent pieces
blowing every which
way, a guitar in the
corner behaves like
a tent peg ought to,
the wind
drowning out all
anxiety, holding
each other for any
reason at all.

-------------------------------------------------

loves a raindrop sliding
down the window of a
minivan, grows older
by accident, rearranges
his fears.

numbers the moments
in a drunk dream, loses
track, answers a phone,
walks in on

you masturbating, doesn't
care. watches his loved
ones turn to mud, drifts
away from here at your
suggestion, never

learned how to
intentionally forget.

-------------------------------------------------

a bird in a headlight,
a monkey in the moonlight,
wet grass, old friend,
new friend.

dancing in my chair,
singing shaky,
lives in holes, got the time,
leave my mind.

awoke to the same fly,
same stomach,
cat on the couch, knock on the door,
tubes in the hall.

drowned in beerworld,
slept like an onion,
not a chance in france, ate only once,
running low on batteries.

ralph nader.

----------------------------------------------

You Are Just The Paste

if only...
if only...
if only you could feel every little thing i feel
just by holding my hand... maybe you can...
maybe you can.

if only...
if only...
if only i could see everything you see everything you need
when we touch the same tree... you and tree are in me...
what a wonderful three.

there's a house that we've built,
in a place that can't be seen.
of every hand we've been dealt,
not a one has felt clean.

our house follows me still,
and i know some day you will
know just what i mean.
you'll know just what i mean.

i'm empty... i'm empty...
now every little thing you do everything you don't say
i love you anyway... a day is just a day...
so come over and play.

if every... if every...
if every beautiful thing we have we embrace
and things with bad taste... be put in their place...
i'd not be a waste.

but i am a waste,
and you are just the paste
that keeps me having this face.

-------------------------------------------------

A Song To Me

he's lookin for a frame of reference,
one not made by the mind of a man.
he was once a dinosaur,
now he has no future plans.

the one thing he's afraid of
is the beating of his heart,
and the only things that get him off
are dreams falling apart...
and brunettes.

ryan hertz,
thank you for letting me live in your body.
it's been pretty good
so far.

livin in a green garage
not too far away from here.
through trial and error
he's learned to cut his own hair..
sort of.

if you see him on the street
stop and say hello,
but please don't talk for too long
cause he likes to walk alone.

ryan hertz,
thank you for letting me live in your body.
it's been pretty good
so far.

-------------------------------------------------

Haiku

She's got real sharp teeth.
They aren't in her mouth but they
still hurt like all hell.

------------------------------------------------

Haikus

Chicken trapped in cage,
quickly BLASTS through Galaxy.
Wow, still trapped in cage.

Late last night I dreamt
the ghost of Allen Ginsberg
played with my asshole.

-----------------------------

in morning
it is go farm time

uh oh
spagetti zone

i lost in
monopoly

Why do i do it?

-------------------------------------------------

Haikus

We laid in the grass
and our three heads were touching.
The earth span faster.

Outside the sports bar,
chickens mingle in line for
hotdogs. I walk by.

That girl who dreamt I
fucked her drew me a picture.
I have it somewhere.

Peter Orlovsky
wrote about masturbating
on his cat. Beat that!

On the porch, a kid
twirled a gun on his finger.
It was unloaded.

Madonna stood up.
Dennis passed out while Andrew
shifted in his seat.

I was caught staring
at the ground. I looked up and
introduced myself.

I think the rice I
cooked is too spicy to eat
in just one sitting.

-------------------------------------------------

Animal,
Take off your clothes.
Our jaws are the same.
We all hurt to move.

Independent,
of not one thing.
Barely even being,
Somehow you are being.

I wholey love
your fragility.
Not a moment
has broken you.
A fear of loss
runs right you through.
And you will be gone.

Can you see
more than eyes?
Animal dies.
That one was a dog.

Hair and skin,
Growing again.
Life is a freak,
You are the wind.

I wholey love
your fragility.
Not a moment
has broken you.
A fear of loss
runs right you through.
And you will be gone.

Every breathe
is put to sleep.

-------------------------------------------------

Water, water, soon I will be with you,
Doing everything I hope to do.
Animating puzzles in a city,
Helping all the women grow their hair.

I fell into the ocean with no clothes on,
My mind becoming salt inside a throat.
My body was expanding very quickly,
We could feel everything to be.

God is the pigeon out your window.
Everybody walking in the street.
Standing on her doorstep waiting anxiously.
Fat guy in the pool with his shirt on.

We can imitate an imitation.
I am billions of years old.
I am a non-migratory population,
tired of feeling like a captive.

-------------------------------------------------

The Weather

There are a million roads
that you will never travel on.
A million moments to be
wanted that are gone.
And in your seeking
there is nothing to be found.
I guarantee that you'll be
buried in the ground.

Soon it will be time for you
to pay back all your loans,
And serve your time as
a pile of used bones.
The void you came from
is right where you'll end up,
It's the same place that you
have always been.
You have always been.

Are you bored with being?
Are you tired of sitting
as you are?
The world that you've been
waiting on is now.
There is nothing left for
you to figure out.

It might be useful
to go happily insane.
Maybe admit there's never
anything to blame.
Life is always fair
when you look at things this way.
It's the same place that you
have always been.
You have always been.

Are you bored with being?
Are you tired of sitting
as you are?
The world that you've been
waiting on is now.
There is nothing left for you
to figure out.

Well here we go!
And there we went!
The world that you've been
waiting on.
All that I know,
All that I've said!
There's nothing left
to figure out.

It's just the weather,
You have always been.

-------------------------------------------------

Haikus

a tree is why we
can breathe air back in again;
other half of lungs.

even the smallest
rock is full of things unknown,
so look at it close!

everything i do
brings me closer to my death.
that's so exciting!

-------------------------------------------------

Suicide Note

If I ever
made you come,

even if
it was only in a dream

i think that you
owe it to me

to be
at my funeral.

Also, don't wear any panties.

--------------------------------

The Pulsing Of

a rock becomes
sand

landing
in many places

where pieces of
you

will some day stand.

-------------

Haikus

i woke to birds, so
the morning felt like summer,
as did my armpits.

staring at a rock,
i don't even have a head.
where do i see from?

i'll knit chris a scarf
and finish just in time for
the summer to come.

hopefully this month
i will be at shining rock,
where i ripped a tent.

it rained heavily
and my friend was unprepared
so she ran ahead.

this life has been good.
i may cry when it ends but
i will be smiling.

my head is pounding.
i banged it up real good at
the three-headed dog.

ordinarymind @ 2008-12-24T08:36:00

2008-12-24T13:42:39Z

bitter winter days,
reminiscent of my death,
with their longer nights

ordinarymind @ 2007-08-25T02:37:00

2007-08-25T06:39:27Z

I have friends

think we have five more years
before everybody's favorite skeleton

comes alive.

ordinarymind @ 2007-04-04T21:20:00

2007-04-05T01:24:19Z

go somewhere without question

like the sun makes you move.
just like the sun makes me see you moving.

like the water, go where you are going.

go straight, only go straight.

David Hawkins, You, & God

2007-03-26T16:45:04Z

Is there a way to test the degree of truth represented by human conceptualizations? Recently, a friend allowed me the opportunity to skim over a few chapters of a book by a man named Dr. David Hawkins. Dr. Hawkins has several combinations of letters after his name, so we know his ideas are a big deal. He claims to have discovered a method of determining what degree of truth is represented by just about any discrete object or idea you can name. Everything from books to people long dead can now be ranked from 0 to 1000. The test is very simple. Just hold whatever object you'd like to test (to test a dead person, you just have to write their name on a piece of paper and crumple it up, or maybe use a picture) in your hand and place it against your chest. Next, hold your other arm out to your side and have somebody ask, "Is this object greater than 100?" and then have them push on your hand. If your hand goes down, then its truth is less than 100, but if it stays up it's more truthful than 100. Now just keep doing this until you narrow down just how truthful the thing in your hand is. ... ... ... ... .... ...... ?!?!?!

Oh, one more thing... the person holding the thing to their chest has to be ranked at 200 or above, so if this method doesn't seem to work for you, you might want to talk to your physician. Dr. Hawkins has written an entire series of books on spiritual truth based on this premise. It's a nice idea, however misguided and ridiculous.

Hawkins equates the level of truth of an object or idea to its level of consciousness. Something with a value of 1000 would basically be God, whereas something closer to zero would be... I don't know what.

Is not every single thing perfectly and truthfully itself? A rock should rate 1000, as it is exactly what it is. If it rates any less, this can only be a flaw in the understanding of the person holding the rock. Falsehood is a uniquely human endeavor. Same goes for value.

What about you? About God? You are perfectly the entire universe; though perhaps slightly confused about what that means. Any god constructed in the human mind is incomplete. Thus, all religion is conceptually incomplete, while still a perfect expression. However, perfect expression requires no religion. Theism and Atheism are also incomplete. Can you tell me why?

ordinarymind @ 2006-12-07T00:10:00

2006-12-07T04:10:44Z

the fragile little heads
inside your mind,

they are going to be gone.

funny-legged heads
and all their friends,

on their way home.

ordinarymind @ 2006-07-19T13:48:00

2006-07-19T17:48:48Z

my good friend was
struck down. big tree struck

him down. my good friend.

he is everywhere around.

ordinarymind @ 2006-07-12T14:22:00

2006-07-12T18:22:54Z

Where do you think you are going?
You ought to stop chasing your own tail,
'cause there's a lot of pain in this world.

My friend ran through the rain,
and it never stopped falling down on her.
Who exactly do you think you are?

I leave my food bowl everywhere.
I leave my food bowl everywhere I go,
from the Shining Rock of Blue Ridge
to the living reefs of Cabo Pulmo.

ordinarymind @ 2006-07-03T19:28:00

2006-07-03T23:28:39Z

there is a way to be
without you or me,
but it doesn't begin
anywhere we can see.

it doesn't begin anywhere,
it definitely never ends anywhere.

For Roberto

2006-06-27T14:37:36Z

oh my dumb brother,
flowers shrivel, they die
just like you and I.

shalom. don't misunderstand,
I'm speaking of your end.

gassho. do not be deluded
by differentiations.

oh my dumb brother,
there's no room for knives
between husbands and wives.

ordinarymind @ 2006-06-21T14:20:00

2006-06-21T18:20:15Z

lay upon this world
with your emptiness.

rest against this world
with all your emptiness.

it's a funny land of girls,
it's a painting full of bombs.
it turns to dust, but your emptiness remains.

often in the daylight
i'll emerge.

dizzy with my guts
left out all night.

they were searching
for you when i was unawake,
haphazard in that old dark sea of things.

and though so many times
i've asked them not to.

i've requested no more
searching, no more pain.

the funny land returns
still always altered.
you are long gone, but your emptiness remains.

Rivery Appearances

2006-06-20T16:53:58Z

upon this
comes a poem.

where does it come from?
it is only of a river.

no one writes a river.

a fool mourns a whirlpool.

ordinarymind @ 2006-05-11T10:37:00

2006-05-11T15:33:32Z

this beard, it has no man.
this beard, it has no man.
still it hangs from my chin like an old violin,
and it grows the best it can.

this wheel, it has no hub.
this wheel, it has no hub.
still it turns every way all night and day,
both below and up above.

don't need no robe or bell.
don't need no robe or bell.
not one divide in the world so wide,
no heaven and no hell.

ordinarymind @ 2006-05-02T13:47:00

2006-05-02T18:00:53Z

lord, i have messed
around. lord, i have,
messing around. you are messing
me up.

ayawaska. ayawaska.

you've been out messing
around. i've been here
glaring at myself. we here
messed me up, big time.

ayawaska. ayawaska.

pain is revealed, pain is revealed,
i show my face, ayahuasca.

ordinarymind @ 2006-04-19T10:25:00

2006-04-19T14:26:59Z

let lung sting,
let lung scab.

The Dying Person

2006-04-12T19:34:01Z

"It seems that in the Tibetan culture people do not find death a particularly irritating or difficult situation, but here in the west we often find it extremely difficult to relate to it. Nobody tells us the final truth. It is such a terrible rejection, a fundamental rejection of love, that nobody is really willing to help a dying person's state of mind.

It seems necessary, unless the dying person is in a coma or cannot communicate, that he should be told he is dying. It may be difficult to actually take such a step, but if one is a friend or a husband or wife, then this is the greatest opportunity of really communicating trust. It is a delightful situation, that at last somebody really cares about you, somebody is not playing a game of hypocrisy, is not going to tell you a lie in order to please you, which is what has been happening throughout your whole life. This comes down to the ultimate truth, it is fundamental trust, which is extremely beautiful. We should really try to generate that principle.

Actually relating with the dying person is very important, telling him that death is not a myth at that point, but that it is actually happening. "It is actually happening, but we are your friends, therefore we are watching your death. We know that you are dying and you know that you are dying, we are really meeting together at this point." That is the finest and best demonstration of friendship and communication, it presents tremendously rich inspiration to the dying person.

You should be able to relate with his bodily situation, and detect the subtle deterioration in his physical senses, sense of communication, sense of hearing, facial expression and so on. But there are people with tremendously powerful will who can always put on a smile up to the last minute of death, trying to fight off their old age, trying to fight the deteroiration of their senses, so one should be aware of that situation also.

...

The whole point is that when you instruct a dying person you are really talking to yourself. Your stability is part of the dying person, so if you are stable then automatically the person in the bardo state will be attracted to that. In other words, present a very sane and solid situation to the person who is going to die. Just relate with him, just open to each other simultaneously, and develop the meeting of the two minds."

--Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche (from Commentary on the Bardo Thotrol, The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo)

ordinarymind @ 2006-04-10T12:46:00

2006-04-10T16:48:01Z

walking around, my face
disintegrates with hoarse
croaks and mistakes.

ordinarymind @ 2006-03-21T16:39:00

2006-03-21T21:57:57Z

i awoke caked in damp sand,
water brown and gurgle sound
in my left ear. what is this?

the ground hot and soft, crawled
up from shore towards a hole in
the beige stone wall, escaping
that sun.

inside, a man sat still
facing the wall. what is
this? i found myself cold
and left.

the sky began to move and darken,
wind soon blew the drying grains
from my naked body. i shivered.
what is this? i returned to
the small cave and became
angry.

i rocked back and forth on
the ground and the man continued
to sit and watch the wall.

"what is this?"
"this is you and there is no escape."

i went back out in the wind
and blew around.

ordinarymind @ 2006-03-06T00:06:00

2006-03-06T05:08:47Z

i have a friend
who i see from time to time.

he knows where i goes
and where i goes he knows
what i find.

he says, "who
is dragging this corpse behind,
you?"

i know a girl
she knows a lot about the world.

she knows where i goes
and where i goes she knows
what i find.

she says, "who
is dragging this corpse behind,
you?"

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-09T09:45:00

2006-02-09T14:54:39Z

out my window, a gash
in the beast of
this world.

limbs struggle to close
the wound, bleeding
blue, loving you
and asking

for nothing.

a sad old naked
bear, this world, alone
but full of fools dancing in
her sores, her streets, her sting.

she shivers.

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-07T22:36:00

2006-02-08T03:37:26Z

I love to be
an up and down,
a light and dark,

alive and dead
with you.

We forever appear
for one another, over and over.

Thank you for being my home.

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-07T00:17:00

2006-02-07T06:06:50Z

i used to work in a garden,
couldn't wake up on time.
but i worked with my friends
and nobody seemed to mind.

i've been getting older,
holding on to less and less.

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-06T17:02:00

2006-02-06T22:03:42Z

"All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists. This Mind, which is without beginning, is unborn and indestructible. It is not green nor yellow, and has neither form nor appearance. It does not belong to the categories of things which exist or do not exist, nor can it be thought of in terms of new or old. It is neither long nor short, big nor small, for it transcends all limits, measures, names, traces and comparisons. It is that which you see before you - begin to reason about it and you at once fall into error. It is like the boundless void which cannot be fathomed or measured. The One Mind alone is the Buddha, and there is no distinction between the Buddha and sentient things, but that sentient beings are attached to forms and so seek externally for Buddhahood. By their very seeking they lose it, for that is using the Buddha to seek for the Buddha and using mind to grasp Mind. Even though they do their utmost for a full aeon, they will not be able to attain it. They do not know that, if they put a stop to conceptual thought and forget their anxiety, the Buddha will appear before them, for this Mind is the Buddha and the Buddha is all living beings. It is not the less for being manifested in ordinary beings, nor is it greater for being manifested in the Buddhas." -Huang Po

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-06T08:50:00

2006-02-06T13:59:09Z

in the bar, we
laughed like cubs.
in the woods i heard
you cry at night.

you could be
married, i can't
remember.

i don't know you,
you know I do.

ordinarymind @ 2006-02-02T16:24:00

2006-02-02T21:28:44Z

you'll get through the day
some way, so don't be afraid.

you don't need to be here
in order to drive.

you don't need to be here
to live life alive.

some way, you will get there.
there's nothing to do, no
need for you.