Category: writing

daily practice

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Daily reminders, feelings, Musings, notes from self, Poetry, Truth, writing3 Comments

daily practice

most poems limp in lumpy—
there may be a line
with a trace of truth
I pare dead words away—
the verse has a life
independent of mine
does it voice its own truth?
what does it want to say?

I repeatedly speak it,
ear for its musical echo
rephrasing a line
prune this and cut that
until it feels pleasing

once in a while
it’s too disheveled
for shaping—I’ll snag
one single phrase
let go of the rest
and start fresh again

the rarest of poems
pours in clear—
I lift my hands
from the keys
no fussing with this one
let it shine its own song

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.

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.

wonder stone

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Daily reminders, mind, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, simple pleasures, writingLeave a comment

wonder stone

she rests on my desk
cedar green, flat
and smooth
tumbled for weeks
with coarse to fine grits
she acquired high polish,
tiny pits on one side

when I’m anxious
or can’t find a word,
my hand reaches
to finger the stone
my thumb loves the flaws
searches them out
like a friend in a crowd

stone, cool to the touch,
her smoothness soothing
the pits make me pause,
take a breath—
why she?
that cool sensation
so like Mom’s hand
on my young fevered brow

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

need

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Daily reminders, heart, joy, light, mind, Musings, Poetry, Silence, simple pleasures, writingLeave a comment

need

what I need to write a poem:
first light brightening the east
before dawn lazes
over the field
a door to close
my mocha within reach
wide expanse
of computer monitor
the alluring white page
calling, calling
begging for words

no journal and pen for me,
the endless cross-outs
that force rewriting
just to make it legible—
I choose cursor and backspace
cut, copy, or paste
swipe and delete
and ergonomic keyboard,
so my arms don’t ache

and the light, the lovely light
birthing a fresh day
opening the way for words
still, deep quiet settling
around me
an empty calendar helps—
too much pressure
and words flee to find
you, lucky you,
happy with paper and pen

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

remembering to bow

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Daily reminders, feelings, memoir, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, writingLeave a comment

remembering to bow

I’ve learned to bow
to interrupted days—
some mornings
I pray for simple
forbearance
and the courage
to face what is,
write when I can
find patience when I can’t
nurture when needed

I bow in thankfulness
remembering my teachers
I bow, enriched by love
forehead pressed to the floor
grateful for the ground

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

ode to everyday things

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, memoir, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality, writingLeave a comment

ode to everyday things

one dawn
I spilt my mug
mocha sloshed
onto my special
ergonomic keyboard—
coffee, milk, chocolate
all leaking in

the dash to save it
mopping fast
stubbed cotton
swabs into corners
relief when
fingers typed
and letters appeared

I smooth my hands
over those keys
stroke my travel mug
—lid now screwed on

oh! the utility of
everyday things—
each object
praiseworthy
a miracle of
functional beauty

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

cathedral – a pantoum

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, Daily reminders, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality, writing5 Comments

The pantoum is a poetic form originating in 15th century Malaysia that uses repetition. It’s a poem of any length composed of four-line stanzas in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third lines of the next stanza. The final stanza is often two lines from the first stanza.

cathedral – a pantoum

my inner sanctuary
the cathedral of words
part statement of intent
part prayer or supplication

the cathedral of words
if I’m still I can find them
part prayer or supplication
pouring from the wordless

if I’m still I can find them
and write myself awake
they pour from the wordless
to convey what is empty

I write myself awake
find what wants revealing
try to convey what is empty
yet is seen on the page

part prayer or supplication
my inner sanctuary

2022 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

laboring for a gift

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, Daily reminders, joy, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality, writing8 Comments

The Shakers believed that they received their arts as gifts from the spiritual world. Persons who strove to become receptive of songs, dances, paintings, and so forth were said to be “laboring for a gift,” and the works that they created circulated as gifts within the community. Shaker artists were known as “instruments”; we know only a few of their names, for in general it was forbidden that they be known to any but the church elders.

laboring for a gift

these poems, where
do they come from?
they pour through
from the unseen—
startle and surprise
the poet perhaps
more than the reader
that’s the delight
the astonishment
the jolt, the awe

when the poet
shows up every dawn
ready to listen
prepared to receive
the flow increases—
every day? people ask
every day
rhythm, constancy
are required—
that’s the laboring
the gift is
being in service

2022 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.