Of Love, Life & Truth ~ Secret Wisdom in the Poetry of WordPlay
~ by Vince Gowmon Know, know now, the only time you can k-now, and you’ll win your Heart over, now won One. But you may need to say a brave No to what is false, what is not You, to say Yes to what is real, what you know is true now, know now. And so trust your inner No, your inner k-no-w, its strength, its worth, its reason for being, so you embrace and follow your Heartfelt knowing, and boldly own what is kn-own within, making You more authentically known to the world, hiding less, if only a little, if only from your beloved, co-worker, friend, cat, plant… If only you own not just what is known now but what you’ve always known since […]
Silence of Soul
Silence is always more authentic, more truthful, than words. Yet, how much time do you give yourself to silence each day, and thus give yourself to your soul and its quiet murmurings? How much do you reveal yourself, your forgotten depths, to another through the space between your words? How much do you reveal in intimacy, into-me-see, through tender eyes, a vulnerable smile, through the tears and trembles of your emotional body, and gentle, asking touch? How much do you share what words cannot possibly capture, what your mind cannot grasp, yet what your heart knows, feels, all too well? There, waiting for you in still silence, is the voiceless voice of the Ages that knows you far more than you realize. If only you […]
Faith Lost and Found in Our Dying, Awakening World ~ A Poem for Humanity
When you lose faith in the world you have known, as is happening now for countless many, an ancient voice within may find your inner ear, inviting you to finally have faith in something else, the Unknown you turned from and forgot many moons ago. When the fragmented routines and trivialities of daily living lose their semblant ground, you may feel the warm breeze of whole groundless being whispering to build life anew upon it. When what you relied on and took for granted no longer make sense, slip from your hands, when that which you identified with, jobs and family, friends and health, cultural and moral ideas of what is so, of right and wrong, learned, limiting stories about who you are, when all […]
Fear Beneath
Whatever narrative you are choosing right now, set it aside for a moment, still yourself, and you may feel a tremble in your heart, one of wisdom, one of uncertainty, and herein lies the place we hide from in all our grasping, all our need to know, to figure out and control, herein lies the invitation to us all in these times of quieting, to dwell here for a while, humbled, confronting that which compels us to answer and solve, to keep busy fretting and seeking: death, dear one, death of the one you’ve known yourself to be, the fear beneath all other fears, the fear that keeps you preserving that which no longer works, while, underneath, preserving a self who clings to life. _____________________ […]
Banks of a Wild River
In play, children remain in a fluid, flexible state. Moment by moment they open to greater, more creative versions of themselves. They touch and bloom the seed of potential in their heart. Children, in their mischief, imagination and spontaneous explorations, don’t try to become someone. They are someone already. They know this without knowing it. They feel the larger instinct of life pulsating through their veins, calling them to reach and spiral into infinite potential. Be sure in educating and parenting our most precious little ones, you do not shape this natural unfolding into what it doesn’t want to be. Instead, give it space to breathe, to run freely. Let any rules and structures you use be like banks of a wild river, guiding children […]
Hidden Treasure
I turned my back on him, the younger part of me. There was no choice. Alone, unable to hold and afraid to feel the magnitude of what occurred, knowing, at some deep, subterranean level, if I could just keep it, him, at bay, locked in his room, I could stay strong and rise above, escape the overwhelm, weakness, the unbearable aloneness. I could move away, far away, fast forward into life, chasing success after success. What seemed so important. Yet, after many climbs to high mountain tops, the view, that oh-so-dear rush, lost its charm. Truthfully, it never felt quite enough. Nothing felt enough. Something was always missing. Little, if anything, touched that old, desolate part of me still hiding from, reaching for me. My […]
From Being a Helper to Being of Service
One who is of service knows something the helper does not. Well-intentioned, the helper climbs down into the well of suffering to join someone in their darkness. They try to help, and so often do, but in their helping get lost in and with the suffering other, mixing and mingling with their pain. And this is because, without knowing it, helpers often seek to help themselves, to heal their unresolved pain, through the suffering other. The greater the pain, the greater the impulse can be to “help”. I will lead you out of the well I myself am lost in. And so we join together in this old dance, not realizing that on some level I am asking you to help me as I am […]
Beneath Trying
By Vince Gowmon Beneath your trying you may discover a well of tremendous untouched grief. Trying to be strong Trying to be tough Trying to be needless Trying to be dependable Trying to look good Trying to do good Trying to be brave Trying to be funny Trying to be smart Trying to be beautiful Trying to make it, get there Trying to keep it, hold it, all together for yourself, for everyone around you So much trying keeps us from the depths of much needed crying It keeps us busy, distracted, caring for others, lost in what we think is important, looking everywhere everywhere, but within For if we were to stop long enough to feel beneath the pulse of busyness, the lure of […]
She is the Door
by Vince Gowmon From Wild Empty Spaces ~ Poems for the Opening Heart She is the door. She won’t let you in until you surrender to her, until you set down the tattered old baggage you have carried and worshipped these many years. Drop the illusions of your mind, the ideas of who you are: the bluster, the charm, the false pretense, the wild, well-versed stories you tell so well. The ones you have deceived so many others with. None will work with her, her piercing eyes see right through them. None will be the key that opens the door, that opens her heart. Leave them at the threshold, let them slip from your hand and fall crashing to the floor, leaving you naked, […]
When You Slow Down Enough
by Vince Gowmon From Wild Empty Spaces ~ Poems for the Opening Heart When you slow down enough you no longer fear the silence of space and all it holds. In embracing stillness you discover that which you never knew existed or was possible, and you meet your Self and life perhaps for the very first time. When you slow down enough you finally feel the feelings and hear the words you have been avoiding all these many years. Those knocks on the door, those peering eyes that have been trying to capture your attention from the shadows, the long lost dream that once carried you away, far away, many moons ago. When you slow down enough you no longer fear your aloneness. You […]