Category: Musings

missed it

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, Daily reminders, gratitude, heart, light, loss, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry4 Comments

missed it

I missed first light
stubbed off the watch
that rumbles me awake
nodded back asleep—
this day’s dawn
is gone
a minuscule thing
but a loss

a chiding whisper
lazybones
whose voice is that?
gone forty-five years
my father come to visit—
and this, his first dispatch?
then I remember
sticks and stones
can break your bones
but words
can never hurt you

useful, but not true
unless you construct
a fortress—
I whisper back
with the warmth
my heart holds,
I love you, too—
all this
from missing dawn

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

bell

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, consciousness, Daily reminders, heart, Love, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, pathless path, Poetry, spirituality2 Comments

bell

I invite the bell
again and again—
toll me awake!
I envision a belltower
a resonant bell
a prayer of sorts,
although what
could I ever pray to?
I launch prayers
into the void
chock full of
knowing and love—
the bell resounds,
sonorous
the echo reminding
I’m already home

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

about time

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, Daily reminders, death, Musings, notes from self, Poetry, writing6 Comments

about time

as a child, it crawled—
the long spread of summer
hot, humid days
the stream in the woods
where I plunged
hands into chill water
wrestled a stone
from the bottom
stared wide-eyed
at fossils, I ran
fingers over a body
millions of years old—
for the first time
I felt awestruck and small

now the days rumble by
like bumps on the road
first light, last light
first light again
urgency presses
there’s work to be done
I don’t hunt for fossils
or watch seedlings grow
but that awe took root—
breath in and out
words filling a page
these mark my days

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

choice

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, Daily reminders, kindness, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality2 Comments

choice

Choose what you want and then pay for it—Robert Bly

that’s how life works—
choose parenting or not
bold pup over shy one
smiling or sneering
this over that
each choice
shifts the day
shapes our way

no choice is choosing
there is no escape
select with care
you will live it

I don’t judge others
I choose first light
and dove call over
late night and alcohol
I choose the sweet
quiet of home over
beer joints and bluster
a stream of kindness
over sniping and blame
this life, so short
my choice matters

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

resistance

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Daily reminders, feelings, light, mind, Musings, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality, thoughts, writing3 Comments

resistance

when I feel the noose
of time, when meetings
and appointments loom,
it’s hard to drop in
and down, find the pool
of open unknowing

I have no idea where
to start, the snake
in my belly
coils tight
my mind becomes ice
and words won’t flow

my gaze lifts to the window
first light reveals
the onyx outline of trees,
the doe munching roses
and my world settles down—
shrugging off an outgrown coat
resistance slips to the ground

breath frees up,
snake falls sleep,
I become
tree, air, burgeoning light
deer and fragrant flower
mind melts into poem

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

I am

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Daily reminders, feelings, gratitude, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, paradox, Poetry, writing6 Comments

This was a fifteen-minute unedited write in a workshop
with Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

I am

I am brave
I am a cowardly mess

I love the truth
the truth terrifies me
yet I yearn to turn toward it

I am a poet
I have failed poetry
what is a poet, anyway?

I am multitudes
I am very small and alone

I am a student of life
I am a teacher of life
in every moment,
life teaches me

all of these avowals
are true

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

compass

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, consciousness, Daily reminders, gratitude, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, pathless path, Poetry, Silence, spirituality, Truth2 Comments

compass

it takes a deeper quiet
essential for my life
to find my inner compass
the one that won’t delude
but it’s not enough to spot it
I must decode its guidance
listen to its wisdom
then respond
there’s the rub
it’s ruthless in its pointing

I was not misled
to think it would be easy
that pledge was never made—
it stripped away defenses
allowed me my mistakes
but there’s a grace
I must concede—
like a border collie
nipping at my heels
it drove me always
toward what’s true

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

my repertoire

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn addiction, awe, joy, Musings, Poetry, simple pleasures3 Comments

my repertoire

the kitchen belonged
to Mom—she loved to cook
but not to teach
she wouldn’t share her space
so when I reached adulthood
I had a repertoire of one

fudge pie
it’s in the Joy of Cooking
inelegance its charm,
no prizes for its style
yet adopted by our tribe—
not vegan or gluten-free,
these days, it’s out-of-favor
just good old sugar
eggs, butter
and a smidge of flour
melted bitter chocolate
a spoonful of vanilla
oh my God! the flavor

you’ll have to whip
the egg whites
until they have stiff points
fold them in with care
and bake
the chocolaty bouquet!
accept its homely nature
then revel
a crustless cow-pie wonder

(if you want the actual recipe with quantities, post the request
with your email in a response to this poem and I’ll be happy to send it to you.)

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

uncertainty

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, children, consciousness, Daily reminders, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, paradox, pathless path, Poetry, spirituality2 Comments

uncertainty

our days are filled
with uncertainty
that’s the edge
for all of us
we just don’t know

the sun seems
to rise every day
but, scientists say
one morning it won’t
big trouble

I doubt
we’ll be here by then
we’re successfully
killing ourselves off
but I don’t know

marvels happen
every day
the next baby born
might save our world
cool the fever

of rising degrees
but who will be left?
sun-loving creatures
the meerkats?
the hippos?

this is for sure
after we’re gone
knowing will shine
blazing awake
and aware

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

from darkness

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Breath, children, Daily reminders, light, loss, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, pain, paradox, parenting, PoetryLeave a comment

from darkness

as first light skims
the sky, I consider
how we birth
from dark

what a shock light
must be for the infant
as her mother finally
pushes her free

she is caught
by a stranger, then
cut from her source
with a snip of the cord

dark’s comfort vanished
warm sea washed away
where is her refuge now?
no wonder she cries

imagine bewilderment
as new systems begin
lungs fill and empty
for the very first time

she squints and blinks
in this startling world
filled with loud sounds
and smells and sights

as she lies skin to skin
stroked and soothed
by her mother’s first touch
a new passage

from darkness to light
and one into two

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.