© 2010 by David Steele.
All Rights Reserved.
Chukwadi
Chuuuuukwaaaaadiiiii
Health
Humility
Heart
The eternal quest that brings rest
The tight control that yearns to let go
Out of conflict calm
Confidence from confusion drawn
From turmoil tranquility
Of judgement acceptance
The laughter in tears
The loss that brings gain
The joy beneath pain
From sacrifice freedom
From suffering sacrament
I am the birth in death
And that which dies when born
Heart
Humility
Health
Chuuuuukwaaaaadiiiii
Ponderings
There once met an M.D. named Chukwadi.
She asked me to write her a poem....
My words reach out
Into the endless night
And grope about
A wordless sky
In the hope
That they will find
A way to ride
The winds of time.
A ship of silver ribbon tide
Adrift amid a star sewn tapestry,
Wings of silver woven song
They weightless lift
And glide upon
The breath that sets life free.
They are my gift unto this earth
And all they know is ecstasy.
WOMON
(Corrie's Song)
rich rippling laugh, sharp piercing thought,
eyes burning bright, deep spread heart;
a warm spring breeze
kisses shaggy meadows
with the golden winged song
of summer's bright yellow days
sweet swollen long
ecstatically bathed
timeless
silence
reign silken sun rays,
fully mature
and ripened rich,
your life baring body
firm flowing grace
moon tossed fruits
and autumn harvests that await
under a star strewn embrace
depths
wonderous vast dance,
life change begets,
seasons create,
the dance travels on:
WOMON MEANS STRENGTH!
Ponderings
I confess. This poem was written under heavy J. R. R. Tolken influence.
MACHO
01/14/1991
How tough is tough?
You got the right stuff?
Like guts
Guts enough to trust?
To live the love?
To open your heart
And let it sing?
Be true to yourself
And follow your dreams?
Just how courageous
Has your mind grown?
Do you even know
When your thoughts are your own
And when you're being spoon fed?
Are you filled with dogma?
Is there honesty inside?
Can you handle the truth?
Do you run and hide?
Are you a wimp?
Or are you a human being?
Ponderings
Events on the day after I completed this poem compelled me to go back and add the date to the title.
Equinox
Silent is the loudest sound,
Invisible is the brightest light,
Full is the emptiness most profound,
Illuminating is the darkest night;
Absolute motion perpetually still,
Of surrender comes effortless gain,
Open vessels naturally fill,
Only nothing is everywhere the same:
Sky above, earth below,
A crack between worlds
Where energies flow--
Dark meets light
And magic swirls
Creation explodes
And life unfurls!
Ponderings
Yes, this was a deliberate attempt to write a Taoist poem.
And The Breeze Swept The City
The street was brimming over with cars,
Bright street lights overpowered the stars,
Worn-out grass on balding earth grooved
With "The Too Many Shoes
Is Walked On Me Blues",
While the weary grey complacency was too thick to move.
And the breeze swept the city.
Scraps of paper stirred in their troubled unease,
Sand from the street was blown 'bout my knees,
Stubborn and stale the winter worn grime
To every crack and crevasse still resolute clung,
A perpetual fatigue that would not leave,
Tired and lethargic was the spell that it spun.
And the breeze swept the city.
Everywhere cool freshness penetrated,
Its life and energy left me elated,
Rustling leaves on rejoicing branches spoke
Of spring and re-birth
And strength ever-waiting to sprout from the earth,
And the city was caressed and cleansed with hope!
Ponderings
This was written in early spring at evening rush hour from a porch on the NW corner of 14th Avenue and Gaylord Street in Denver Colorado.
Eli's Coffee Shop
Tis' almost exactly a year gone past
Since first I discovered Eli's Coffee Shop,
And now I sit on near that exact same spot
As that very first night I sat and thought;
Again I ponder my life and write
Just as I did that very first night:
And a year gone past.
And a year gone past.
O! so short a time it seems
As nostalgia sets in
And I plunge through memories
That I celebrate joyously,
For, life is O so temporary!
I draw the late night calm about me
Snuggle warm in its tranquility and peace,
I let awareness flow through-out me,
And sadness I release,
And harmony engulfs me,
And I find myself at peace.
Ponderings
Never have I had another a poem flow out of me as quickly and
completely as Eli's Coffee Shop. Eli's was one of my favorite places
to write. On this particular night, my attempts seemed doomed. After
an hour and a half with no hint of inspiration, but a gut full of
coffee, I simply gave up. I rose and headed to the cash register when
a sudden impulse sent me scurrying to the nearest empty seat. It's
been almost exactly a year since I started coming here, I realized.
Almost before I knew what was happening, my pen was traversing my
notebook trying to keep pace with the lines spilling out of my mind:
Eli’s Coffee Shop was born. Excited, I rushed home and typed it up.
Only after I finished typing did I realize I had accidently typed one
line twice. I decided the extra line was an improvement!
There lives some birth in every breath
In every breath there lives some death
Inhale
Exhale
Breathe
Life
Within a simple single breath's
Clearly defined Finiteness
Is echoed a rhythm that has no limits
Throughout all time the rhythm Infinite
A beating heart A burning sun
A passing life that once was young
Oceans rise Mountains fall
Atoms dance within us all
At the core of everything we find
Revolving cycles marking time
Thus all things are Finite and unique
In that each has its own specific beat
And thus all things are Infinite and the same
In that rhythm cycles beats all are woven out of change
A great mystery is the consistency upon which all depends
Rejuvenation perpetual without beginning without end
It only and always happens now
And keeps us all alive somehow
B R E A T H E
Inhale
Exhale
Breathe
Life
There lives some birth in every breath
In every breath there lives some death
Ponderings
This poem was most elusive. I liked the opening lines, "There lives some birth in every breath - In every breath there lives some death", so much that I carried them in my mind for over a decade, pondering how I might use them, before the rest of the poem was written. Finishing it was joyous! It is now one of my most frequently recited poems.
THE SEED
Intent is the seed
From which a belief system grows;
Action is the fruit thus born
At which core the seed again takes form;
Experience is the rain and sun
Upon which its substance feeds;
And life is the sturdy soil
In which is sown the seed.
When pondering the nature of intent,
Ask yourself:
What is different in these statements?
--I want to clean up my house.
--I expect to clean up my house.
--I intend to clean up my house.
Ponderings
I wrote this on the way home from a particularly potent therapy session.
The View From Big Mountain
A gavel descends with a resounding thud,
A resolution is passed,
Serious men get on with the complex job of governing a nation,
High paid lobbyists celebrate with champagne.
Two thousand miles and a universe away men arrive,
They have guns and shinny badges.
A home is bulldozed, a family hits the road,
They had been living there for seven hundred years.
The coal company runs an efficient operation,
Profits are high,
Investors are pleased with their dividends,
The CEO gets his bonus.
Talk of economic prosperity abounds,
The stock market has never done better,
A family investment pays off,
Children are gratefully sent to college.
Domestic energy reserves are good for national security,
Electricity runs refrigerators and food does not spoil,
There is plenty to eat and mass epidemics are virtually
non-existent
Acid rain falls on forests that have endured for thousands
of years.
We have unlocked the power of the sun,
We can scorch the surface of the earth,
Parents want better lives for their children,
Homeless people wander aimlessly through concrete canyons.
When you have lost your home after seven hundred years
It is easy to become homeless.
When you are accustomed to tallying dividend profits,
It is difficult to understand why anyone becomes homeless.
When you only view the night sky through street light haze.
It is easy to forget what stars are.
When you have never slept on the forest floor,
It is difficult to understand why forests are important.
The masses can not be trusted,
Or can they?
We have the power,
How do we use it?
Ponderings
SUNRISE
Snowfall soothes me
soft flakes drift gently to earth
silently cover all
loving embrace
In this coffee shop
I share the empty calm brought by the storm
saturated with
peace and love
I wonder at the misery and confusion
besetting humanity
finite we
struggle ever
with entropy
poised on
tension between
order and chaos
meaning and misery
Humanbeings
solitary creatures
sunrise
over a vast
snow-covered plain
Solitude
Beauty
I once had a friend
desperate for love he was
moved by beauty and art
ever searching for quality
contemptuous of all deemed less than good by
him he was
a lonely fellow
always dissatisfied with his job
and often unemployed
and sarcastic
I think now of my friend
and sunrises over snow-covered plains
He would be deeply moved by such a sunrise
as he viewed it through a cabin window
But to roll in the snow
feel its stinging cold
and the warmth of the sun's first rays
alone amid a vast acceptance
where death
awaits those
who lack respect
for the power in
cold and snow
That he would not risk
Better to watch from the cabin
In safety
I am in the plain
rolling in the snow
welcoming the sun's warmth
melting into ecstasy
glob of sensations
I AM ALIVE!
the plain cuddles me
snow soothes me
sun bathes me
love soars through me
rapture
I am
the plain
the snow
the sun
I AM ALIVE!
NOW!
Ponderings
Julie's Poem
I
By your tender gaze am held
Until
Deep within your eyes I dwell:
Ponder well such heart held capacity
That your essence pure could
So joy capture and enrapture me,
Naturally,
A gift
Of freedom given
Sincerity
That I may partake
Of your life,
Your light and love,
And thus be renewed
And imbued
With the courage
That your honesty lavishes upon me!
Ponderings
Cookin' In The Night
Once you've tasted a good womon's special home cookin'
You will long for more of her magic recipe
Cause you ain't never felt so good as when you's all well fed
With her late night hefty hunger remade.
It will satisfy a deep down cravin' in your soul,
Put a sparkle in your eye, a healin' in your heart,
And your appetite will grow!
O! those late night hunger pains, they drive me so insane,
My whole body starts to itchin' but there's nothin' cookin'
in my kitchen.
I hate it when my stoves they get all hot, and them dinner
fixins I don't got
And I don't wanna do no shoppin' cause them fresh food stands,
they ain't open
While that quick-serve easy restaurant food no way would
satisfyqu my mood;
I love to eat at home, take my time, take all night to dine,
Luxuriously savor, drop by drop, that heavenly home cooked
flavor:
As fresh as you can get, nature's own, organically grown,
It will ignite a fire in your soul,
Put a tingle in your fingers,
And your appetite will grow!
The recipes are ancient, taste different every time,
The food it is nutritious, delectable delicious;
I mean I really like when the fruit is ripe,
And you just can't beat that warm tender meat
With the steamin' hot sauce, and the vegetable salad toss,
I love to shake it up all night, appease my appetite,
Eat plenty of that rich pie so moistly spiced, the dessert
from paradise:
As fresh as you can get, nature's own, organically grown,
It will ignite a fire in your soul,
Put a tingle in your fingers,
And your appetite will grow!
Once you've tasted a good womon's special home cookin'
It will change your life, make you feel just right,
Satisfy a deep down cravin' in your soul,
Put a sparkle in your eye, a healin' in your heart,
When you know what it's like to be well fed at night,
You will love that womon until the day you die,
Cause when a womom makes a gift of her special home cooking
You're blesses with some unindelibaly fine,
some downright divine
deliciously sublime
eternally sacred time!
Ponderings
I have always liked to cook and I quickly learned to appreciate organic fresh food.
Ponderings
David was born under fiery Aries, the sign of creation. To a mythologist, Aries represents the choice to invoke light or succumb to darkness: transformation or annihilation. The ancient bards, chosen of the fire god Apollo, were the true warriors of old; Homer, not Agamemnon, possessed the power to transform his world. Our poets, not our generals, wield the weapon of transformation in this age. David Steele has chosen to take up that weapon.
- Seth Henry
Poetry
