I wrote this poem when I was a monk while on a long solitary retreat in the woods at Chithurst (I think it was during the vassa in 1994). I don’t remember much about it – I was probably using death as a reflection and must have reached some pretty deep, dark areas of my mind. But I do remember the image on a shaft of light coming through an open window into a dark underground room which looked like a crypt, hence the title.
Dear Dhammiko,
I think I managed to post your poem and explanatory comments on the Home page! Yay! Henceforth, we are asking everyone to send their posts, as they want them to appear, to dharmapoets2@gmail.com. Hopefully this posting process will go smoothly. Thank you and everyone for your patience.
♥ Gayle
at the moment, i think we could copy and paste from here as admin – though Gayle has an email address for submissions – which she will post a notice about – meanwhile – do you feel OK to say a few words about yourself and how the poem emerged – (no worries if you’d rather not at all) to post with your poem on the Home page?
Hi there, a very good idea & good stuff! I just signed in and have been trying to post a poem, but I don’t seem to be able to. How does one do it? Thanks! Dhammiko
Hi Dhammiko,
You’re an “approved” contributor now, so you should be able to post. Go ahead and do it, though it may have to go through some posting process,and may not post immediately. Try! And let’s see what happens. We’re all still learning. Welcome to Dharma Road. Gayle
Ok Gayle, here it is. I am not sure if this is the right place to post is but I can’t see any other way to do it. I hope it works. Thanks. Dhammiko
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
the quietude of the sepulchre
to explore
the labyrinthine
cavern
of the mind
is an awesome
thing
but
to come
face to face
with
the demon
that
resides
within the
innermost
chamber
and
contemplate
one’s own death
is terrifying
until
the discovery
is made
that
all the demon
wants is
release
and fear
of death
is nothing
more than
fear
of life
then
diaphanous light
shines through
the quietude
of the sepulchre
Ah, the fruits of the Dhamma–expansion of minds, hearts, spirits
neither here nor there–everywhere/nowhere
landing on this blog site.
Thank you for creating/naming/holding this space for Dharma Road travelers!
Hi Sati, Thanissara and I are in the process of learning to administrate our new blog. Were you not able to see and read the MacDiarmid poem? We received your comment and posted it here. If you submit a poem we will be able to post it for you. There might be a few hour delay, as we are not on here all the time, but hopefully it will all work out, and we’ll get some interesting poetry and comments/conversation going here. Thanks for your interest!
♥ Gayle
Hi T- this looks great! I am probably being really dense- but how do I get to read the poetry and to leave contributions? It’s a fantastic idea- Dhamma seems to flow easily as poetry, rather than articles…a brilliant medium for exchange! Am really enthused by this idea- thanks so much for putting the site together.
Love, Sati xxxxx
great – seems we’re beginning to get the hang of how to do this blog – thanks for the contributions – this is such a lovely way of sharing..
Thank you Gayle!
Ok, here we go.
I wrote this poem when I was a monk while on a long solitary retreat in the woods at Chithurst (I think it was during the vassa in 1994). I don’t remember much about it – I was probably using death as a reflection and must have reached some pretty deep, dark areas of my mind. But I do remember the image on a shaft of light coming through an open window into a dark underground room which looked like a crypt, hence the title.
Dear Dhammiko,
I think I managed to post your poem and explanatory comments on the Home page! Yay! Henceforth, we are asking everyone to send their posts, as they want them to appear, to dharmapoets2@gmail.com. Hopefully this posting process will go smoothly. Thank you and everyone for your patience.
♥ Gayle
Thanks Thanissara. I am still puzzled though as how to post poems in the right section, together with the other posted poems. Any ideas?
at the moment, i think we could copy and paste from here as admin – though Gayle has an email address for submissions – which she will post a notice about – meanwhile – do you feel OK to say a few words about yourself and how the poem emerged – (no worries if you’d rather not at all) to post with your poem on the Home page?
By the way, I am able to read the other poems posted…
you did it Dhammiko! bravissimo! beautiful poem, thank you for sharing it.
♥ Gayle
beautiful poem,
‘the fear of death is nothing more than the fear of life..’
Hi there, a very good idea & good stuff! I just signed in and have been trying to post a poem, but I don’t seem to be able to. How does one do it? Thanks! Dhammiko
Hi Dhammiko,
You’re an “approved” contributor now, so you should be able to post. Go ahead and do it, though it may have to go through some posting process,and may not post immediately. Try! And let’s see what happens. We’re all still learning. Welcome to Dharma Road. Gayle
Ok Gayle, here it is. I am not sure if this is the right place to post is but I can’t see any other way to do it. I hope it works. Thanks. Dhammiko
§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§
the quietude of the sepulchre
to explore
the labyrinthine
cavern
of the mind
is an awesome
thing
but
to come
face to face
with
the demon
that
resides
within the
innermost
chamber
and
contemplate
one’s own death
is terrifying
until
the discovery
is made
that
all the demon
wants is
release
and fear
of death
is nothing
more than
fear
of life
then
diaphanous light
shines through
the quietude
of the sepulchre
Ah, the fruits of the Dhamma–expansion of minds, hearts, spirits
neither here nor there–everywhere/nowhere
landing on this blog site.
Thank you for creating/naming/holding this space for Dharma Road travelers!
Dear me, okay. Thought I was really loosing it for a minute. (Smile)
I don’t really remember leaving a happy face. In fact, I didn’t. Besides, it is only 12:44 here not 3:43 pm. Hmmmmmm.
hi aprita – that was me – Thanissara – helping you get on the blog – i’ve now deleted the happy face -
Hey there, THis is a great idea for a blog site…
Great stuff, looks like an interesting space…
Hi Sati, Thanissara and I are in the process of learning to administrate our new blog. Were you not able to see and read the MacDiarmid poem? We received your comment and posted it here. If you submit a poem we will be able to post it for you. There might be a few hour delay, as we are not on here all the time, but hopefully it will all work out, and we’ll get some interesting poetry and comments/conversation going here. Thanks for your interest!
♥ Gayle
Hi T- this looks great! I am probably being really dense- but how do I get to read the poetry and to leave contributions? It’s a fantastic idea- Dhamma seems to flow easily as poetry, rather than articles…a brilliant medium for exchange! Am really enthused by this idea- thanks so much for putting the site together.
Love, Sati xxxxx
hi Sati – i think you can just post them here – it’d be great to share your contributions and poems – i look forward to it…!