the fish with a door on his back

Shaping your tongue into a flower.

“A white flower grows in the quietness.

Let your tongue become that flower.”

-Rumi

Open the gate. Let the cows roam,

following their own free will.

Open the door. Let the children play

however they wish to play.

If the house and the grounds are both silent,

shape your cool tongue into a single white flower.

Perhaps a camellia, fat and full, bursting

with life. Lick the silence clean.

Move through your silence

like you might move through an entire life,

if only you could; do this without shame.

--

            That the earth might go on, that the rain might go on, that the sun might shine on, that the forests might still grow; as these things continue, so will life continue. This is my prayer.

--

Listen closely now, I am speaking my mind.

“Drink all your passion and be a disgrace.”

-Rumi

Speak your mind without hesitation,

and live your life without pretense.

Life is short, and what is the use in pretending?

We come into this life alone and on a whim,

and friend, we go out the same way.

Laugh as much as you please,

and as often as you please. Loudly.

Never miss a chance to love anyone.

Anger and hate are ridiculous things,

like old men who try to hide their baldness

with the hair from the sides of their heads.

Listen closely now, I am speaking my mind

and my wonderful advice is absolutely free.

--

                Last night I dreamed of a big fish that had a sort-of door on his back. I reached into the water and opened the door, and inside was more water and more fish, tiny ones, swimming around. The large fish was patient, and let me do this.

James Lee Jobe

Baltimore, the west side. My Mom grew up right here.

To have nothing in mind is noble. To have no skill and no knowledge is supreme. No abiding, no hermitage, comes next.

Basho

--

The moon

abiding in the midst of

serene mind;

billows break

into light.

Dogen

--

We are entangled as we codependently arise in this mess together. We’re not separate. It’s not me versus them. It’s us.

Nikki Mirghafori, “Dreaming Together”

Istanbul, Turkey 

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