Mindfulness

Literary minded readers may spot influences from Dennis Potter, C.S. Lewis, Isaac Newton and T.F. Powys.

Mindfulness

At the point of death, we see life
Even when pain cuts like a knife
Yesterday is a place which fades
Of childhood, beaches, lemonades
And today is the humdrum routine
Almost on automatic, hardly seen
As we do our job, pay our mortgage
Accumulate possessions, baggage
As if we are immortals, and time
To be squandered; then a chime
And the clock sounds, bell tolls
And we re-assess our final goals
And see what is bound, locked
So many chains; we are shocked
Life is, and it is now. Present tense
And some days are restored to sense
Watching the plum tree, becoming free
Senses vivid, as blossom on the tree
Whitest, frothiest, blossom; I see now
Transformation, Buber’s I and Thou
More trivial than blossom and yet
There is a holy quality, not to forget
The nowness is wonderful, the joy
Which also unsettles, to almost annoy
A taste of desire, of bliss, in which
The commonplace becomes so rich
The glory of it, never in our power
A gift of grace, an unfolding flower
In the beginning was joy, it made
All things, the sunshine and the shade
The candle lit in the darkened room
The miracle of birth within the womb
And a child playing upon the beach
Picks up pebbles, some out of reach
The bread we share, the food of life
Joy coming, bringing end to strife
For this is what matters, here and now
The shining rainbow makes its vow
And the wine is light from day to day
But red wine means it is time to pray
Drinking deep of the wonders here
Listening to that voice: do not fear
Celebrating life at the point of death
Praising the wonder with dying breath