I’d been thinking about this a long, long time.

   Wondering What Would Happen

Not a futurist, apocalyptic pessimist,
But I’ve fantasised,
Imagined what it would be like
If by some fluke, some evil act,
Some karmic sequence of events,
The lights lost power:
Hour when the sky grew dark
We had no lightbulb to turn on,
No stove or oven,
Instant water from a valve
Wired heater there to to solve,
No recourse to the digital:
No things at all
For comfort and convenience  
We’ve grown used to.

Me, I’d have to write in pencil or
What ink or lead was there.
I’d have to learn to grow -
Cultivate and plough to live;
Contrive a greenhouse to survive.
Learn where, how to find the carbs,
The protein, fat…  
What to have  and where they sat.

That’s only me;  No family
To feed with nutrients they’d need.
I have someone who chops the  wood.
For goodness’ sake, I have the woods!
Dependency on things electric
Is approximately half of the world
(hurling out a random number)
Members of the global race
Seem to be laced with ruination…
Nation after ruined nation.

Answers lie not in religion,
Not in -ism,
But in thoughtful and reflective -ation:
Contemplation, meditation;
Intellect and heart and action.
Wondering what would, could happen
But a step.

Wondering What Would Happen 2.10.2021 Our Times, Our Culture II; Arlene Nover Corwin

You may have to use a dictionary for this one.
      
                Word

What is the word?
Sound, vocalisation to be read,
Seen, heard;
Give meaning to intention?
One might guess
The first invention of creation
Carried forth - an innovation
Was the utterance of word -
Coming from a throat.
To ask, command, demand, emote
Shades of devotion;
No threat of drought or running out,
Expressing in the subtlest ways -
Revealing hidden selves from what
We think we are to what we are
In psyche’s inmost core;
Things sure of and unsure
That may, may not be posturing.
The word is there!
To gird up courage, bind the herd
Of common folk to common world.

If anything can be called sacred;
Venerated and respected,
Even purified and cleansed
By honesty in its intention
It is word; the word;
Well meant and tied
To goodness, curiosity and knowledge.

Word 2.21.2021 Definitely Didactic II;The Processes:Creative,Thinking,Meditative II; arlene Nover Corwin

Words Are ‘In’

When I was young I lacked the means
To speak my thoughts, ideas or longings.
(though aware of rights and gladnesses and wrongings).
I lacked words: shades of utterance and indication.
Reactions, yes, linguistic thinking - I think not.

Around the age of twenty,
University degree behind me,
Marriage, baby,
Books, experience exposures new,
Movements calling for articulation:
Music, writing, word expression:
Understanding! Wow!  
A very non-linguistic Wow!

Now it’s now
And I expect, respect
Each precious aspect
Only word contains;
Retains through thick and thin.
Words are ‘in’.
Words Are’In’ 3.9.2021 The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin

Writing everyday, as I do, I really do write down any thought that catches me.  It's all a kind of etude: a study, a learning process.  Themes differing, but always a Corwin thread underlying, it seems to me everything I compose has validity, both artistically and philosophically.  (see poem enclosed:)
             Words & Marriage
           Word Paralysis: Stunted Growth

Couples do it all the time:
Talk in phrases long cliched by platitude,
Of staled attitude.
They don’t communicate
(except perhaps when fornicating).
Don’t learn,
The phrases all the same,
Repeated at each meal, each film.

They’re missing out
On IQ raising inspiration,
Real communication
Worn or lost in years or habit:
Customary words inadequate.

They learn to neither listen
Nor to pay attention,
Stopping up their listening ears
Through years of word paralysis.

Sometimes deafness very real
Strikes one to the other mate.
There goes the skill of conversation,
Life’s love communication.

What to do?
What the solution?
Partnership and marriage
As a dance for two
Goes falling through.
Through simple lack of word renewal.

Who wants boredom,
Wants to snore when loved one speaks?
Love goes sneaking out the door
When words no longer stir or spur.

Words&Marriage 6.20.2020 Love Relationships II; Arlene Nover Corwin

Words To Loathe:  -Ism, Dogma

Time and again I wrote of -ism.
(Criticism, witticism doesn’t count)
Coming at the ends of words
-Ism turns to hardened turds,
To be followed by the herds
Who seldom understand a thing
In its entirety.

-Ism makes a word into its specialty.
Takes a system or philosophy
And breaks it down to dogma’s ideology.
There’s always something wrong with dogma.

Dogma says “i’m right, you’re wrong.”
A hackneyed song.
Dogma takes opinion,
Makes it fact, actively
Turning people into minions,
Underlings and servile
To the prominent, the dominant and vile,
Screaming all the while,
Each gosh darned night
“You’re wrong, we’re right!”

Guidance to the prudent:
Don’t become a rodent.
You are you with views original,
Authentic, actual, primordial.
Conventional or not, they are,
And you, an individual -
Undivided and your own.
There is no need to ban or loan,
Prohibit others or exclude.
It’s downright rude, crude,
Not to say, misleading and deluding.

Words to shy away from, fly from:
Words omitting possibility,
Emitting sheer hostility, dishonour and discredit…
Words that say,”We’ve got the secret.”
All those words that separate
The small from great.
Who is to say what’s small, what’s great?
That’s it, the last and little bit!🙋‍♀️

Words To Loathe: -Ism, Dogma 5.21.2020 Words To Love; Arlene Nover Corwin

I hope this isn't too terribly abstruse.  These things come into my head and I can't let go:      Words To Love

Karma:
What a charmer!
A main player by design
Being hard-defined,
A simple overlap of layers
Is this karma’s nature.

Karma:
Panoramic drama;
Kernel of the daily
And  eternal of the kernel;
Methods, messages and meanings
Both external and internal.

Anyone who ’s told of it,
Grabs the bit, takes hold of it,
Doesn’t quit, yearning to learn more of it,
Is one, who burning, benefits.

Karma:
One, two, three: Cause, effect and destiny.
Four and five: Work and motive.
Pure intentions lead to good,
Flawed intentions lead to bad.
What you do in moments
Is a fragment of the morrow
And a judgement of the future.

Karma is the deed, the work, the action.
It’s both principle and law.
It says, actions make a difference,
Every feature of significance
With outcome and reverberation.

Karma is the causal chain
Encapsulated in your very own
Synaptic brain.

Words To Love 5.18.2020 The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin

Words To Love: Burgeoning🐝🌲🌿🍃🍄

It is July, year twenty twenty.
Summer sky has not been great.
One often wants what one can’t get.
There has been thunder, lightening,  storm, wimd, rain -
Even hale!  Yet,
Garden and the forest burgeon:
Rhododendrons broadened,
Sprouting unfamiliarly on roadside margins;
Upward, outward, inward, downward;
Grasses verdant, vari-colored,  
All hail to the weather god!

Fruits and bees, the reckoned with, the seasonal
Thinned out, not come as usual;
Normal berries, for example  -
Disappointing!  Very!
Fewer berries.  N’eer a berry.

Yet,
One must admit
This burgeoning is overwhelming;
Branch, bough, shoot, each flabbergasting.
Burgeoning is such a warming, loving, word.
Nature’s silent, secret growing. going on unheard,
Spectacularly self-effacing.

Words to Love: Burgeoning 7.10.2020 Circling Round Nature II; Arlene Nover Corwin

Words To Love: Emoji

Pictograph of sadness, cheer…
Every feeling, object, there
To show, enhance, inflate, draw near,
Define, make clear -
Oh, those Japanese - so clever!
E, a picture; Moji, character.

And I, mature, articulate,
Controlled, restrained,
Using it and them more often
When the brain’s refrain
Needs just that little extra bit
To sign and supplement
Whatever’s been expressed already
Boosting, heading
Written chunks of art (or junk)..
Emoji: hidden *****  behind it all -
A detail for the people.

Words To Love: Emoji 9.19.2020 The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin.    

whoever wants to add his or her pwn personal emoji is welcome to do so.

Words To Love: Interconnection

Crisis after crisis: interconnected.
Deeds apparent or invisible: connected.
Phases, patterns unalike, yet linked and ‘synched’*
With Laws pertaining.
Do not question, and be certain:
Every force contains its obverse.
Things expand and then contract -
Bodies, flowers - all its contacts…

Interacting constantly, the powers of reality;
Related somehow, here and now.
And so, we reconstruct, re-form;
Nature forming forms forever.

Adapting and accommodating,
Interacting and connecting,
Thus, collecting and correcting
Continent by continent.
Intra-, inter- without end.

short for synchronised

Words to Love: Interconnection 4.18.2021 Circling Round Reality;Circling Round Everything II; Arlene Nover Corwin

A kind reader called me ‘wise’. Who knows if one is wise or not? One has insights now and again. Sometimes judicious and far-sighted. One is never sure. One simply looks around, reflects, selects, words based on one’s own propensities and character. One is happy if one’s ideas stir the *** of good feeling, constructive feelings – some things positive in any case, in another.

World Famous & Legendary 2,  Or, It’s All About Illusions

I watch and read and, and and...shocked and horrified and helpless.
             World On Fire

Scribbled this out last evening when I couldn’t think of anything to say.  The first two line came out on pencil.  The sixth and seventh came next.  The rest came together this morning.  A total of three hours, I would think.  Eventually a poem worth the reading.

     Worth The Reading Time

Much of what one reads about
Is love ignited, unrequited…
Plight, excite, delight: all adjectives that end in -ite,
Narratives that never land;
Unfulfilled and ne’er full-ended.
Searching for someone to love;
Searching for the one true love.

For those inclined to love Divine -
The kind of love a union
With the One its aim and function;
That suffices as the gold; the mine
Of all the gemstones in the world.

Tomes we seek, themes that speak
Of higher things than lips and lust,
That never tire or expire,
But encrusted with a gem unchanging
Are worth the reading time forever.

Worth the Reading Time 11.28.2020 The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II; Circling Round Experience; Circling Round Eros; Love Relationships II; Arlene Nover Corwin

Writing From The Place You’re At

If you’re living in the Now,
Defining and refining
With a sense of movement-in-the-present,
Then your writing will become
A mirror of that present,
You a better writing woman/man - yes, person.
That’s a a gift!  A real present!

Moment’s thought may feel too trifling
To put out into the world, but listen!
No thought is so meaningless
As not to hurl into the swirl of word
Poetic brainwaves others have not also shared.

That is why the “I is always you is we.”
The marvel being ‘you’ is always you,
Your writing yours and no one else’s:
You, the content, style, form.
Catch the moment: carpe diem!
As the hundred zillion galaxies do this second,
You’ll expand,
A guarantee long earned, confirmed!

Writing From the Place You’re At 4.13.2021 Definitely Didactic II; I Is Always You Is Me; The Processes: Creative, thinking, Meditative II; Arlene Nover Corwin

“I Is Always You Is We.” the title of a one of my collections and coming book.

Writing In The Middle Of The Night

There’s something nice about the facelessness
Of  Internet,
The anonymity you get
Despite the photos and the instant thing
You hope will ring the bell
Of those around the global ball.
A kind of secret.
You needn’t tell your thoughts,
Spell correctly,
Use our mouth, make a sound -
Just sit there typing while the world goes round.
North, south, east, west,
You’ve got all the time to test your creativity.
Believe me, it’s the best invention
Since sliced bread, the paper clip,
The toilet roll, words ‘hip’ and ‘soul’.

For people who want name and fame
It is a trip to paradise.
The price   is shekels.
What the heck, it’s only money!
And for people whose agenda is pure vanity,
A dream (both fantasy and joy).

In any case, if I may say it once again,
There’s something I appreciate
About the gate that’s opened
Through the faceless anonymity,
Potential creativity and artistry
Implicit
In the Internet.
Writing In The Middle Of The Night 2.9.2018The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative; Arlene Corwin

(Yet Another) Portrait Of A Friend

I have a friend
Who has a perfect memory.
You might think it’s a perfect gift.
We have to sift through thoughts –
That is, you, I – but he,
He pictures everything,
Recalls it all: dates, times, the history
Complete.  What could be wrong
With knowing all the lyrics to each song
You hear?  
Draw near, I’ll tell you:

He retains the good and bad.
He’s filtered nothing. Think if you should
Shoulder all the woes of life?
The sad, the mad, the wars, the strife?
Besides the perfect recall,
He sees everything in black and white:
It’s either awe-inspiring or ****.
I’d guess it’s vexing
To remember each and every second
And, on top of which, to have opinions strong,
Be never wrong: one of his ‘strong’ opinions .
Plus, he takes offense, pretends indifference.
Yet, we’re friends.
I always yield, always bend.
You see, I am indifferent
And I’m charmed.

(Yet Another) Portrait Of A Friend 10.19.2016
Love Relationships II; Special People, Special Occasions; Small Stories Book;
Arlene Corwin

Yoga, James Bond & The Bad Guys

Sitting on the floor
Watching James bond overpower foes.
A complicated character with
A subtle ethic, ice-chilled wrath –
Most of all, a yogic path
Of duty and detachment;
Yogic while the villain,
Mega-bombs his own routinely -
Ligaments and muscles blown,
Royal houses overthrown!
And yet we have so much in common.

Villain cool, detached but mean,
Followers his **** machine.
Bond the Lancelot,
Jaw-dropping stunts his lot,
Fencing, boxing, crashing cars;
Fights and scars his calling cards –
And when in need of surgery
He heals quickly.

Evil lurks, Bond never shirks, and still
His life is filled with perks:
Hotel suites, girls en suite,
Dry martinis, Aston Martins (note the plural)
Sure of all
And unequivocal
Bond’s megastar, ideal and idol.

This poet rather fond of Bond,
Both yogis of a different kind:
He the running, driving soldier,
I, the yogi on the floor,
Each connected to a power.
Grinding skills the Bond-dynamic,
Mine the tranquil skill-iambic.

I give in to un-excitement’s
Ordinary daily yoga;
Bond the knight with right to ****
(Nice guy James with license, aimed at
Ordinary evil ogres -
There you see the box of riddles:
Bond the paradox in middle
Fighting off the oh, so evil bad guys!


Yoga, James Bond & The Bad Guys 2.10.2015/revised 8.28.2016
Circling Round Yoga II; A Sense Of The Ridiculous II;
Arlene Corwin

You Are Aware

I was thinking of and out and through
A thing I’d like to send to you:
Meditation, contemplation, rumination;
Is it speculating, worrying, deliberation?
No, not really.  
It is something that gives transformation,
Peace and focus,
Which of course, uses the brain,
Uses mind;
Silence of a certain kind.
Observation there,
You are aware.
Mantra, God, an optic point…other aids;
Tools to have as mental base:
Yes, to any/each of these.
Any indices on which to focus;
Any means to give you peace.

You Are Aware 3.16.2021 The Processes:Creative,Thinking,Meditative II; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin
Note: Do keep a dictionary nearby.  There may be words that are new to you.

You Are The Only You, You Have

One hears about the worry many
Have about their kin
In times of inactivity, fragility,
Consciousness tuned in to facts and day’s report -
The only fact to care about:
You are the only you, you have.
You cannot save another,
No behavior, thought or flurry
Can affect the other.

One liberating grace:
The others too must face that they too
Are the place there is to hide,  
A living emphasis inside
Where every measured space
Is space enough to find some peace.
An inner armour and release.

You Are The Only You, You Have 4.15.2020 Circling Round reality; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin

You Become Whatever You…#2

I’ve decided to respond to those who sweetly ask how to write a poem.  I’m not the best.  There is no best.  Arrest your own particular talent and bring it to its crest.✍️

( I was not sure if You Can Be Sure Made it to print, so here it is again if it didn't the first time).

I’ve decided to respond to those who sweetly ask how to write a poem.  I’m not the best.  There is no best.  Arrest your own particular talent and bring it to its crest.

         You Can Be Sure

I’ve decided to respond to those who sweetly ask how to write a poem.  I’m not the best.  There is no best.  Arrest your own particular talent and bring it to its crest.

        You Can Be Sure

You Can’t Beat A Book✍️

You Can’t Beat A Book✍️

I was watching a reportage about the strong possibility of a war between Iraq and Kurdistani Kirkuk.  I don't consider myself a political person, neither politically aware nor politically active.  But sometimes, I'm moved on a deep level at the futility of and process leading up to war.  This is one of those moments.  I went directly to the computer.

        You Can’t Have A War

You can’t have a war

Unless you have weapons;

You can’t have those weapons

Unless you have industries;

Can’t have an industry earning no money -

And money means profit,

For who runs an industry

That doesn’t profit -

Profit the carrot.



Weapons-to-profit:

The distance is multi- or many small instances

Building the one upon other,

Easy to disregard,

Turn a blind eye to.



Oil or real estate,

Access to coast,

Minerals, labor:

Possession and use.

Passions’ abuse

And war is the certainty.



It’s terribly sad,

This fighting for terra;

A sickening error

Pretending it’s doctrine or canon or righteousness.

Overruled, conscience.



You can’t have a war,

Restrain it,

Unless there’s this chain of re-action,

Everyone playing his part.

It’s breaking my heart.

Ain’t it yours?



You Can’t Have A War 10.14.2017

War Book II; Our Times, Our Culture II;

Arlene Corwin

I was watching a reportage about the strong possibility of a war between Iraq and Kurdistani Kirkuk. I don't consider myself a political person, neither politically aware nor politically active. But sometimes, I'm moved on a deep level at the futility of and process leading up to war. This is one of those moments. I went directly to the computer.
March 27, 2019 Just 'found' this -'found' in the broadest sense since it's been on Facebook all this time. It seemed weaker than it must have felt when I wrote it in 2017. I've tinkered and re-written - with hopes that it's stronger.
You Can’t Have A War

One Can’t Keep Brooding…

One can’t keep brooding over gravity:
The drooping, dropping mushy *****;* -
Hormone’s programmed mystery
Which summons all and wins.
One’s tired of mirrors,
Made up terrors,
Looking in at thinning skin.
The time spent on the pimpled chin:
Hours that spoil.

Loyal friends disinterested,
Strangers with the least concern;
Who has time to burn
On affectation and facade,
The cavalcade of vanities
That seize the eye?
One can’t protest
What which is useless.

****** is the warmly affectionate  Yiddish  word for ‘***’’ or ‘bottom’
or ‘rear end\’, none which has the tender expressiveness of ‘*****’.

I Can’t Keep Brooding 5.8.2008/re-composed 4.4.2021
Circling Round Ageing;Circling Round Woman;Circling Round Nature;Circling Round Vanities;
Arlene Corwin

You Have A Plan

You have a plan.
You’ve had it since the start of man.
You never pause, it being plan nobody knows.
You work through laws
Consisting of effect and cause.
And so, before I go
I transfer all my hopes to You.
Before the final bye, byes
I would like to know some certainties.
To understand the rest:
The key to and what is
The highest.
Or, life is a meaninglessness.
Instinct longs for happiness.
Even ignoramuses intuitively reach for this.
So in pursuit of bliss’ nearest,
I report to daddy dearest
Universes far from me,
Yet deep inside implicitly.

A force for good,
A force that make things all they should,
A some non-thing as source of all
Behind, in front and in the ball.

There is a plan
That was before the start of man,
And’s going on right now as you
And me
And all of mankind’s destiny.

You Have A Plan 2.14.2018 God Book II; Nature of & In Reality; Circling Round Reality;

You & I Are Meditating

I go into my brain,
Imagining that I and Father my
Are one the same:
One and the same.

Today it’s fun
To think
That You and I are meditating:
Two in one.

Aim always the same:
Restoration of a state of mind
Of kindness,
Peacefulness
And focus.

I’m going now
Back to my TV show,
With minutes spent seconds ago,
Productive.

You & I Are Meditating 9.1.2017
To The Child Mystic II; The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II;
Arlene Corwin

You Need Someone Who Believes In You✍️

You Need Someone Who Believes In You

It sounds romantic; a cosmetic;
I would say,
It’s more a cosmic
Underlay:
A kind of agent
Sent
To shout your name world over.
Someone to communicate
The rare fresh flower that you are;
Star-becoming-bigger star;
Someone booming out your gifts,
Strumming, humming wide and far
About your lifting gifted star;
Friday’s date, friend or mate,
Adorable, adoring pet,
Someone there to vindicate and validate
Your expertise,
The artistries
Accrued;
Who’d
Build a statue
Honoring your values
And of course, your value:
Someone who believes in you.

You Need Someone Who Believes In You 7.2.2017
Defiant Doggerel;
Arlene Corwin


Isn't it obvious?

You Never Can Tell What Stage You’re At

You cannot tell what stage you’re at.
You simply cannot see it.
Oh, you can compare,
Sometimes aware of highs and lows,
The glows in others and yourself,
But deep inside, where knowledge grows
In secret, by accumulation – there
Where flaws are balanced out,
Leaps are made and hurdles cleared
Through secret routes, unknown
To even he who owns the lot -
There, where they’re first set and graded,
Met then faded out -
It’s there to which there’s no access
And it’s of little use to guess          
What’s going on, while what is going on goes on.  Oh yes,
You think you know yourself;
You see results and where you’ve failed or sailed through:
That’s you alright:  partial you;
A hidden, most potential you.
You never know your stage.
But if you’re very good and kind – a little sage,
You get a glimpse of things to come;
Hints that you’ve removed the ****;
A tiny slice no longer slum,
And just enough to keep you crowing,
The best is to keep on going,
Concentrating on a something
You don’t even know is there;
So elusive that you’d swear
It never was, except for books: saints,
Men and women: claimants –
Just like you – who won.

You Never Can Tell What Stage You’re At 3.23.1995/reworked 4.11.2018 Definitely Didactic;  Arlene Corwin


.

You Never Know

You never know
What phrase will take you
To a place – what shall we call it:
Your mentality,
The frontal lobe,
The hippocampus,
Heart or soul?
It’s hard to say in words & sentences
Conventionally milked, been said,
And you don’t want to be a part of it:
The hackneyed, trite, cliché, banal -
Repeating news old hat and stale.
You have the need to speak anew,
Speak up in ways that freshen,
And you never know what sparks a notion,
Crumb, soupçon, a healing potion
(oxymoron opportune).

What matters is that it,
It comforts by the letting out,
The routing out
Concealed crypts of knowledge.

You Never Know 8.20.2017
The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II; Revelations Big & Small;
Arlene Corwin

You Never Know The Clout You Have

You never know the clout you have,
Clout being a blow or target -
Most of all effect or power
You exert by being you.

Take care! Be careful, scared! Be wary!
Everything you say, you do -
Each word, each vow, an influence.
In circumstance you radiate an ambience
You pray will be benevolent.

You, you
In all you do;
And you have impact.
Make a pact with mental you
To be a kind and, gentle you,
Giving out rewarding vibes,
Enriching, beneficial, fruitful.
You, yourself a scribe imbibing
Influences from abroad,
From world untoward – in discord!

Take some in and turn them ‘round.
You abound in power.
You can be man* of the hour
Just by being who you are.
You can be the lucky star
Of every person you encounter.
So remember!
You ne’er know the clout you have
To save what ever may occur.

* of course woman too!

You Never Know The Clout You Have 4.29.2017
Definitely Didactic; Coffee Book II;
Arlene Corwin

I'm editing my next book "Definitely Didactic"  and in coming across this one, I decided - this must go out long before the book. Listening to and about other's woes,  I just fell in love with it.

        You Never Know The Clout You Have



You never know the clout you have,

Clout a blow or target;

Most of all effect or power

You exert by being you.



Take care! Be careful, scared! Be wary!

Everything you say, you do -

Each word, each vow, an influence.

In circumstance an ambience

You pray will be benevolent.



You, you, you in all you do;

And you have impact.

Make a pact with mental you

To be a kind and gentle you,

Giving out rewarding vibes,

Enriching, beneficial, fruitful.

You, yourself a scribe imbibing

Influences from abroad,

From world untoward – in discord!



Take some in and turn them ‘round.

You abound in power.

You can be man* of the hour

Just by being who you are.

You can be the lucky star

Of every person you encounter.

So remember!

You ne’er know the clout you have

To save what ever may occur.

* of course woman too!

You Never Know The Clout You Have 4.29.2017 Definitely Didactic; Coffee Book II; Arlene Corwin

You Have Only Yourself

You have
Only yourself to work with;
Bathe, clothe, soothe;
Live in and save.
A self you cannot leave, for
There’s no other
Over which you have a power.

It’s you who breathe,
Must learn to love, forgive -
For you deserve it.
Your achievement
One that chiefly comes intuitively -
Fief, belief that comes from faith,*
Its roots in something beyond earth,
Bequeathed
From some external source,
Its course also discursive,
Non-intrusive yet conclusive.
You only have yourself
Enwreathed with instinct’s highest drive
To do it with
                    and for.
You Have Only Yourself 12.17.2020 Revelations Big & Small; Arlene Nover Corwin

fief;  a person's sphere of operation or control.
discursive; proceeding by argument or reasoning rather than by intuition.

Your Calling

I was talking with my husband about
What a blessing and how pivotal
It is to hit upon or feel the urge
Toward some profession,
Way of life or some vocation;
Trade or craft that calls you:
Which is why they call it calling.

Some pull which you can’t resist,
Insisting, splurging all it has,
That spurs you on,
A something giving you a kiss,
Summoning and intervening
(But which doesn’t always happen,
There not being any app
To lead the way).

Some just ‘have it’,
Never entering their heads to
Chase or fall into another path.
Lucky they who craft or hath
The gift or talent and good luck
To never buck the system,
Or its converse, follow hollowly
Right into mediocrity,
Stuck on levels never-growing,
Always burrowing and furrowing
The earth, the brow
Never to get somewhere no how.

Say a prayer if you’re not there yet.
Find your groove and move to bare it.
Sleepily or creepingly, but ardently in heart and mind
Till you find the calling key;
Use it in tranquility and fervor -
They go hand in hand, auguring well -
Passion can be quiet too.
You deserve a calling.
Serve the calling coming to you.

Your Calling 2.27.2018 I Is Always You Is We; Revelations Big & Small; Definitely Didactic; Arlene Corwin

You’re All You’ve Got

You’re all you’ve got.
You’ve not ’got’ anyone
Or anything,
The ring of ‘ones’ and ‘things’
A passing, fleeting,
In that meaning,
An illusion.

The truth of this when realised,
The ‘borrow-ness’ is seized,
Reduces sorrow.

Things disappear.
Relations too,
Those closest to you die
And you, you cry
At loss.
The cost of disappearance broken-heartedness.

But when you understand deep in your heart
That you’re a part and they’re a part,
Like slices of an apple ****;
That they’re not yours and you’re not theirs,
Just pieces of the larger unit,

You’re the ‘real’ of all you are,
The other things the satellites around your star
Of which you must take care while there.
Thought provoking, isn’t it,
That ‘you’ is all you’ve really got!

You’re All You’ve Got 8.4.2020 Circling Round Reality; Circling Round Experience; Pure Nakedness II; Nature Of & InReality; Arlene Nover Corwin

You’re Not Alone
                      
You’re down.
Unhappy as a clown
With painted mouth and painted eyes:
A main disguise.
Inside you’re isolated, insulated,
Loveproof, heatproof and cocooned,
Marooned.  Then ****,  
The roof falls in, you’re introduced.
From being ‘down’
You’re not alone.
Propped up and bolstered,
Heartened, fortified and reassured;

I need not say what, where or how.
Certainly not even who.
The thing of import is the ‘that’.
‘That’ you, besotted, mad about
A club,  a hobby, a religion. Stuck
On something you can shout out loud about.
You’ve learned, have known
One need not be alone, not great, not clever.
There is always some one thing to focus on:
Aloneness gone.
Forever.

You’re Not Alone 10.15.2020 Love Relationships II; Circling Round Experience; Arlene Nover Corwin

Your Place On This Planet

I’ve asked and asked,
And never could come to the question -
Not the right one anyway.
What was it that I wanted to find out?
I think I know,
The answer come about:
What is my place, what am I meant to do
To know about myself, the space I take?
The answer’s slow in coming, So I wait.
It grows and growing, showing bit by bit
Small flashes of perception;
Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, nuzzling in collaboration
Ultimately fitting, sitting with perfection.
I, you, all, can only wait:
Wait and act in wholesome ways.
As Buddha says,
“The middle way is always best.”
It is what makes you last the longest.
What you wished and what you wanted
Usually
Turns out to be
A thumping great illusion.
Follow instinct, intuition.  
Each will lead to what you’ve needed
All the while.
There’s a You inside of you. The Real you!
There’s  a Force outside of you
That leads and kneads this real you.
Follow both.
They lead to Truth - the truths for you:
The truths that are the real you,
The you that you can kneel to,
Feeling they are full of right and rightful.

Your Place On this Planet 1.25.2021 Pure Nakedness II; Arlene Nover Corwin

A worthy thing.

         Your Style

Do a one thing long enough,
Often enough;
You will see a style come forth.
Identifiable as your style,
Pattern coming from within
Your structure as a whole.

But line that guides
Lays undiscovered  
Till the inner person,
His or ‘her’ son finds their role.

Back to style in art or dress:
Deep in, steeped in your nature
It unrolls, unfolds in stature
Till its maturation shows.

The key:
Repeat the thing you love to do -
The mode you cannot do without.
A theme, a form, a fashion’s look -
Test and smile, for all the while
You can look forward to a style.

Your Style 6.7.2020 Pure Nakedness II; The Processes: Creative, Thinking, Meditative II; Arlene Nover Corwin