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Sun Sets Old Orchard Beach
Old Orchard Beach, Maine
by Brian K. Wilcox
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The following poem and comments arose from a memory within a month alone in Silence. In Silence, what has been forgotten can return, and what one thought was insignificant might be seen to be an opening to the Light. Yes, some might go to a Bible to receive a Word, while recall of something like a kiss might be the means of a Word for another. With a sacramental worldview, anything can be a window onto Presence and Wisdom. In the words of the late Buddhist, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, "There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real, is taking place in everything." And...
You might think that something extraordinary will happen to you when you discover magic [innate, primordial wisdom in the world]. Something extra-ordinary does happen. You simply find yourself in the realm of utter reality, complete and thorough reality.
*Shambhala.
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i remember
that kiss, our kissing, the kiss
your lips and mine meeting, dark night, dirt road from the church
we church guys and gals played a game 'spinning the bottle'
you and i each a coke bottle pointed to, you then i
so you and i walked together into the dark
no one said what to do, or not, you already knew
rigged, the game, someone knew you liked me, wanted me as yours
we stopped far down the road, no words
the first kiss, i knew not yours, your kiss told of experience
this was heaven to that young boy
why this memory? why now? why the feelings? the ache? like your lips share with mine again to remind of something lost, or never gotten and maybe never will, or something precious my heart should never forget
sure, in weeks alone, memories resurrect and surprising feelings arise, one didn't know lurked hidden somewhere inside, didn't know were so strongly alive
but now weeks later, still the kiss, the ache, almost tears
'kiss
have i missed something i can never now have?'
possibly can or will still, if i choose?'
am i being offered another chance?'
'kiss
possibly you're a sacrament, a means of longing Grace'
possibly you speak to me of unlived life, i've somehow not lived'
'kiss
possibly i'll never know
but i'll keep listening, keep feeling
in case you've returned for a reason
maybe in being with you will open my heart to hear, to see why you've returned after all these years'
*Brian K. Wilcox. Return of the Kiss. June, 26.2018.
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As we move deeper into the Heart of Life, we become stronger, so able to be more vulnerable, more receptive to subtle movements of spirit. We never know what will arise out of Silence. If something moves us deeply, a something not from mind but deeper, we need to listen, to live with it, to wait patiently to receive whatever gift it has for us. We may never know. We may. Regardless, listening and feeling is important. Even the recollection of feelings and memories of something like a kiss can be given us, an apparently mundane happening, but holding within a gift glowing with Light. And if bread and wine can be a sacrament of unseen Grace, why not a kiss - a kind word, a poem, passing a stranger on the sidewalk, a sunrise or sunset, a drop of rain on the face, children's laughter, the sound of waves breaking on the shore, wind dancing leaves in a tree, a tear of sadness flowing down the cheek, the feeling of a longing deep within the heart, the sense of an unnamed sadness or surprising joy?
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*© Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book consists of poems based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
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