Tag Archives: poetry

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To Find the Ecstasy in Your Life


Thoreau, Frost and Whitman were all poets who found happiness in their experience in nature and nature led them to an experience with God. Their writings are very uplifting and filled with wisdom. Some of their poetry is so famous high school students still memorize the words. Some of these have come back to me as I walk in the mountains when visiting my best friend. There is a connection that develops between the experience and the poetry.

 

Black Mountain, NC; Photo by Barbara Mattio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Mountain, NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

Thirty some years ago, a dear friend gave me a book of poetry. The poetry was by Kabir, a fifteenth century Indian poet. He was the son of a weaver and was influenced by Sufis and the ideas of the Hindus. This particular collection of some of his poems is translated by Robert Bly. The originals were written in Hindi. I hope the journey that his words take you on is as amazing of a journey as mine has been. Kabir went into the inner landscape to experience God and the ecstasy of loving The One.

 

“Friend, hope for the Guest while you are alive.
Jump into the experience while you are alive!
Think…and think…while you are alive.
What you call “salvation” belongs to the time before death.

If you don’t break your ropes while you’re alive,
do you think
ghosts will do it after?

The idea that the soul will join with the ecstatic
just because the body is rotten—
that is all fantasy.
What is found now is found then.
If you find nothing new,
you will simply end up with an apartment in the City of Death.
If you make love with the divine now,in the next life you will have the face of satisfied desire.

So plunge into the truth, find out who the Teacher is,
Believe in the Great Sound!

Kabir says this: When the Guest is being searched for,
it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that
does all the work.
Look at me, and you will see a slave of that intensity.”
—–Kabir

Lumberton , NC Photo by Barbara Mattio

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For All the Secret Dancers


“They flew up one spring day
just as the oaks were beginning to bloom,
green and yellow warblers, filling the tree
with music and bright darting movements.
The mother and girl stood outside
and marveled at the sight—–
the mother’s hand steadying her shoulder,
the child swayed backwards, closed her eyes,
opened her mouth, and swallowed the tree
like a spoonful of honey.
She tasted the sweet tasseling blossoms of oak,
felt the flickering wings,
the sway of the branches—-swallowed it whole,
then opened her eyes, and breathed it out again.

But the tree had infiltrated her body
like iron in earth or smoke in wind,
like salt in water she became infused
with its quickening brightness.
She grew old listening to music,
she opened her mouth, and let it run in
until it came out her feet and fingertips,
the flickering motions of color and song,
as bright as jewels.

You can see her in the garden bending over the beds;
suddenly she lifts her face and smiles
as if she is drinking up the sunlight;
she sways above the bean-rows and marigolds,
weaving webs of light with long hands;
or in the morning when she sets the kettle on the stove,
turning in her shuffling slippers,
she lifts the shawl above her head,
and does again the dance of wings and branches.”
———-Virginia Haiden

Photo by Barbara Mattio

Ms. Haiden is a poet and mother of four and grandmother of two. She is a rock hound, gardens, enjoys cooking and jewelry design.

Photo by Barbara Mattio

 

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Flutes For Dancing


” It’s lucky to hear the
flutes for dancing
coming down the road.
The ground is glowing.
The table set in the yard.

We will drink all this wine tonight
because it’s Spring. It is.
It ‘s a growing sea.
We are clouds over the sea,
or flecks of matter
in the ocean when the ocean
seems lit from within.
I know I’m drunk
when I start this ocean talk.

Would you like to see the moon split
in half with one throw”?
——-Rumi

This small homage to Rumi was inspired by a message I received from a friend who is traveling in Turkey. She is on a tour to promote peace. Yesterday she visited the tomb of Rumi. I am so excited for her and a little envious.

Persians and Afghanis call Rumi “Jelaluddin Balkhi.” He was born on September 30, 1207. His father was a theologian and jurist and a mystic of uncertain lineage. Rumi’s life was a fairly normal one for a religious scholar. He taught, meditated, and helped the poor. In 1244 he met a stranger who put a question to him. Shams of Tabriz was the stranger who wandered through the Middle East searching and praying for someone who “could endure his company.” He found Rumi. It is said that the questions he asked Rumi caused him to faint. Shams was a dervish and Rumi and Shams became inseparable

They spent months together without any human needs, transported into a realm of pure conversation. This ecstatic connection caused difficulties in the religious community. Rumi’s students felt neglected and Shams, sensing the trouble, disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared in Rumi’s life.

Scholars feel that the disappearance of Shams began Rumi’s transformation into a mystical artist. Rumi began to write poetry and to listen to music and sing. He began whirling and would whirl for hours at a time. Rumi spent the last twelve years of his life dictating the six volumes of his master-work. He died on December 17, 1273.

Photo by Barbara Mattio

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If I Told You the Truth About God


Many people claim to have the truth about God. Millions of people on our planet are determined that they know God and that they are the only ones who do know God. They are so sure that wars are fought to prove their point. I think it must get difficult to be Divinity because you are supposed to guarantee both sides victory because they know all about you and you want them to win. Where do we go from here? Many mystics, over the millenniums, have had intimate experiences with God, cosmic consciousness, Divinity or whatever name is used, on the inner landscape. The following poem was written by Kabir, a eastern mystic centuries ago. Typically, he and his work were not accepted until after his death. He understood that most people wanted God on their terms; not its. He experienced the presence of the Beloved and was ridiculed by Muslims and Hindus alike until his passing. There is a unique irony in his poems. Many mystics have used poetry, music and nature to help explain the God experience. The following poem is one of my favorites.

I Just Laughed

“If I told you the truth
about God,
you might think I was an idiot.

If I lied to you about the Beautiful One
you might parade me through the streets shouting,
‘this guy is a genius!’

This world has its pants on backwards.
Most carry their values and knowledge
in a jug that has a big hole in it.

Thus having a clear grasp of the situation
if I am asked anything these days

I just laugh!
—Kabir

Photo by Barbara Mattio

Photo by Barbara Mattio

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The Garden of Life


needlework by Barbara Mattio

Needlework by Barbara Mattio

 

I was just out in my garden. It is very warm and I was doing some deadheading, turning pots to the sun. I filled my lungs with the fragrance of the flowers and my eyes with their beautiful color. I could feel the energy emanating from the trees and was filled with contentment. The gardens of our lives are like this. They need attention and some work. We need to keep our lives fertilized and trimmed. We need to stop in the presence of the Divine and communicate as a child of the Universe. Negativity needs to be removed from our lives and we need to remember that thoughts have energy and try very hard not to add to the hatred and violence in the world. We need to laugh and enjoy the relationship we have with the Divine. So visit your garden or park and spend some time with God.

Trees

I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest against the
earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
and lifts her leafy areas to pray;
A tree that may in Summer wear a nest
of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
who lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
but only God can make a tree.
—Joyce Kilmer

 

Photography by Barbara Mattio

Photography by Barbara Mattio

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The Sound of the Trees


By Robert Frost

” I wonder about the trees.

Why do we wish to bear

Forever the noise of these

More than another noise

So close to our dwelling place?

We suffer them by the day

Till we lose all measure of pace,

And fixity in our joys,

And acquire a listening air.

They are that that talks of going

But never gets away;

And that talks no less for knowing,

As it grows wiser and older,

That now it means to stay.

My feet tug at the floor

And my head sways to my shoulder

Sometimes when I watch trees sway,

From the windows or the door.

I shall set forth for somewhere,

I shall make the reckless choice

Some day when they are in voice

And tossing so as to scare

The white clouds over them on.

I shall have less to say,

But I shall be gone.”

In remembrance of Buzurg Mir Hammon, who taught me to hug trees and to fall in love with the Beloved.

Photography by Barbara Mattio

Photography by Barbara Mattio

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The Heart of the Divine


The heart is a receptacle on earth of the divine Spirit. When it holds the divine spirit it soars heavenward. The divine spark which is reflected in the human heart is love.

We need to seek God in the heart of mankind. When we recognize the divine in everyone, we have taken the first step. We also need to be considerate to everyone with our thoughts, actions, and speech.

As you meditate, and visit the inner landscapes, recognize in your own feeling the feeling of God. Know that every impulse of love that rises in your heart is a divine direction from God. This love is the divine spark in your heart which will ignite a flame to rise to illuminate your life’s path.

The living thing in the heart is love. It may show itself as kindness, friendship, sympathy, tolerance or forgiveness.

True spirituality lies in opening the heart, in widening the outlook, and in living your own spiritual path. Every sentient being on earth loves life above all else. The smallest insect, whose life lasts only an instant, tries to escape any danger in order to live a moment longer.

So if we now look at the world and the wars and hatred, bigotry and violence, we have to understand that the heart of humankind is created to be filled with the loving ecstasy of Divinity. Everyone has the same loving connection to Divine love within the heart.

“Because of the beloved my heart is happy,
my soul illuminated.
From the beloved’s greenery hundreds of
blessed rivers are flowing to the rose gardens.

In order to enter into your rose
garden,
the soul makes peace with the thorns.

Choose love. Choose love.
Without this beautiful love,
life is nothing but a burden.”
—-Rumi

photo by Barbara Mattio

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A Woman Can Speak


Unlearning To Not Speak
—Marge Piercy

Blizzards of paper
in slow motion
sift through her
In nightmares she suddenly recalls
a class she signed up for
but forgot to attend.
Now it is to late.
Now it is time for finals:
losers will be shot.
Phrases of men who lectured her
drift and rustle in piles:
Why don’t you speak up?
Why are you shouting?
You have the wrong answer,
wrong line, wrong face.
They tell her she is womb-man,
babymachine, mirror image, toy,
earth mother and penis-poor,
a dish of synthetic strawberry ice cream
rapidly melting.
She grunts to a halt.
She must learn again to speak
starting with I
Starting with We
starting as the infant does
with her own true hunger
and pleasure
and rage.

My choice of photo and poem might seem to be confusing. While we women here in America are struggling today to retain the rights we already have, many women around the world are trying to emerge from lives of servitude, illiteracy and fear. They are our sisters and we must recognize all of the strength and courage it takes to make baby steps to speak.

They face acid in their faces, beatings, children taken away, being isolated in their homes and being an object a man owns. We must recognize how difficult their attempts are for them to make. We must look at them, different, yet our sisters and applaud them for each step and gesture which enables them to begin speaking.

There are many women here in America who were taught not to speak. They didn’t know what they were taking about, they needed to shut up and take care of the children, they needed to “stifle” like Edith Bunker. Thanks to books such as the Feminine Mystic by Betty Friedan, Ms magazine and the work of Gloria Steinem, we can speak…we can speak out and up. What we have to say as women is as valuable as anything a man has to say.

Here is to total equality for all the people, male and female, all colors, and all religions and forms of spirituality.

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My View of Divinity


Our Hearts Should Do This More
—Hafiz

I sit the the streets with the homeless

My clothes stained with the wine
From the vineyards the saints tend.

Light has painted all acts
The same color

So I sit around and laugh all day
With my friends.

At night if I feel a divine loneliness
I tear the doors off Love’s mansion

And wrestle God onto the floor.

He becomes so please with Hafiz
And says,

Our hearts should do this more”.

Hafiz (c, 1317-1389) is widely recognized as the preeminent master of the Persian ghazal form. He writes in the tradition of Rumi, one of the great Sufi poets.

Hafiz is one of the eastern poets who wrote ecstatic poetry. His poetry includes concepts such as loving God so much you become drunk on the experience of the Divine love. I think this is the God I have experienced in my life. This God can not be confined in buildings, experiences life through us, does not only love one type of people. This God has no gender and is bigger than the Universe. This experience we call God is everywhere and is not capable of hate. It is within every sentient being on this planet and even within it. Which is why we are remiss in our ravaging of our planet and we will be the beings which pay the highest price.

I am a spiritual person and have studied the major religions of the world. I have no feelings of “I am right and if you believe differently, you are wrong”. I do know that experiencing the love of God is the best high in the world and it is the best aspect of my humanity. I suggest that you sit down and close your eyes and think only about loving the Divinity in the world. I can say that it is a life-changing experience.