First-Place Winner, Poetry Contest 2013

Levi Andrew Noe is awarded first place for his poem "To Light the Way." Levi Andrew Noe hails from Denver, Colorado. He is a writer, a teacher, a yoga practitioner and instructor, a maker of botanical products, a world traveler, and a seeker of realness in all its forms. Levi is in the process of self-publishing his first book, a children's picture book titled One Day as a Raven (read more about his book here).

If Levi were trapped on a desert island and could have only one book to read, he would have a very hard time deciding between a collection of poetry from either Rumi or Hafiz.

 

To Light the Way

            by Levi Noe

I imagine a time

when the spark

you truly are

finally catches fire

through all the damp and mildew

and sets your dead-wood self

ablaze.

 

I am supposing you will say

something like “yeeouch!”

and possibly you may

be desperate enough

to stop, drop, and roll,

or run for the nearest

body of water.

 

But then

after several minutes

of mortified lunacy

you will find yourself

unscathed,

covered in dirt

and/or

dripping wet

laughing hysterically,

not caring how insane

the crowds gathering around

might think you are,

not worrying

whether or not

someone has called the police.

 

I imagine you will stop laughing then

and begin to weep

for all the illusions

of skin

and bone

and sinew

and thought

that now blow somewhere

across the midwest as fertile ash.

All of that illusion

that you once identified with,

and claimed as yourself

gone, gone, gone.

 

And once the madness

and mourning pass

I suppose you will float away

or choose to stay here as a naked,

penniless, homeless wanderer

with no aim, no fear, and no motive

but to love and to burn like a candle

to light the way.

Second-Place Winner

Second-place honors go to Mark Smith-Soto for his poem “Flamingos.” Mark Smith-Soto is Professor of Spanish and editor of International Poetry Review at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  He has published three prize-winning chapbooks and two full-length poetry collections to date, Our Lives Are Rivers (University Press of Florida, 2003) and Any Second Now (Main Street Rag Publishing Co., 2006).  His poetry, which has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won him an NEA Fellowship in Creative Writing (2006), has appeared in Antioch Review, Kenyon Review, Literary Review, Nimrod, The Sun and many other publications.  In 2010, Unicorn Press brought out his work of translation Fever Season, the selected poetry of Costa Rican writer Ana Istarú.  His most recent works are Berkeley Prelude: A Lyrical Memoir (Unicorn Press, 2012) and the chapbook Splices, just out from Finishing Line Press.

Flamingos

            by Mark Smith-Soto 
 
What advantage in the wild
could there be in perching on
one leg, skinny and knob-
kneed, or in parading, among
predators, so openly pink?
What quirk in nature led
to this queer turn of bird,
gaudy bundle on stilts,
Cyrano beak, a neck for
sticking out? At the zoo,
thirty or forty of them stood
like an installation, ablaze
with improbable tranquility,
not a feather aquiver for minutes
on end. A while now I’ve
known unexpected beauty
can break you into a grin,
pluck the irony out of you
clean as a thorn. Watching
them that day, I raised one foot
and placed it on the other ankle,
for ten seconds at least
I stayed that way.

Third-Place Winner (tied)

Third-place honors go to Natascha Bruckner for her poem “One at the Center.” Natascha Bruckner earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Naropa University in 1999. She lives in Santa Cruz, California, and serves as managing editor of The Mindfulness Bell, a magazine on the art of mindful living. In January 2013, Natascha and fellow poet John Chinworth published a book of poems titled Whiskey Ginger, available on Amazon.com.

One at the Center

            by Natascha Bruckner
 
You don’t see water.
You see wavering trees, rippling clouds,
a sun rocking back and forth.
The pond is a liquid mirror
until a small, stout-nosed fish
wiggles and taps the air
from below, sending out
concentric haloes
like portholes opening
then melting back to glass.
 
You don’t notice silence
until the bell master
invites bronze to sing,
wave upon ringing wave
surging outward
like flutes of a fountain.
 
The motion of love is no different.
Touch your darling with a smile,
a warm hand.
See joy lift his face.
Watch kindness ease her hands.
Water moves into waves as
silence folds into song
as we turn each other into love.

Be fearless like the stout-nosed fish.
Be humble as the bell master.
Be the one at the center
making a motion
of beginning.

Third-Place Winner (tied)

Third-place honors (tied) go to Iain Macdonald for his poem “Walking Meditation.” Born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, Iain Macdonald has earned his bread and beer in a variety of ways, from factory hand to merchant marine officer. He currently lives in Arcata, California, where he works as a high school English teacher. His chapbooks Plotting the Course and Transit Report are published by March Street Press.

Walking Meditation

          by Iain Macdonald

 

My elderly mother

takes my arm,

leaning on me

for support

as we head uphill

toward home.

 

She moves 

very, very slowly,

and I find

I must focus

and breathe

for balance,

her every step

becoming mine.

Editor's Choice Award 2013

The Editor's Choice Award 2013 goes to Temple Cone for his poem "A Closer Absence." Temple Cone is the author of three books of poetry: That Singing, from March Street Press (2011); The Broken Meadow, which received the 2010 Old Seventy Creek Poetry Press Series Prize; and No Loneliness, which received the 2009 FutureCycle Press Poetry Book Prize. An associate professor of English at the U.S. Naval Academy, he lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

 

A Closer Absence

           by Temple Cone

 

There’s got to be a word

for this longing

that kneels beside you

in an empty chapel

or follows you beneath bare trees,

a word inflected

with pulse and handclasp and breath.

 

You would need a thousand tongues

just to speak it,

unless you found

you were one of the tongues

and the word

was being spoken

through you. Was you.

 

2013 Poetry Contest

Spirit First is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual meditation poetry contest. Entries arrived from nearly every state in the United States, the District of Columbia, and 21 other nations worldwide. International submissions came from Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, England, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, and Wales. (Several poems arrived from poets without state/country information, so other countries may have been represented.)
 
As each round of the competition continued, the judging become more and more difficult. So many beautiful poems! Our reviewing committee had a great challenge in selecting the winners. Thank you, reviewing team, and thank you to all our poets for participating in this meaningful event. Congratulations to all our winners!

And now, we begin posting our winning poets and their poems.

Spirit First on Blog Talk Radio

Exciting news! Spirit First will be featured on BlogTalkRadio tonight. We will be talking a little bit about Spirit First and who we are, and we'll be talking a lot about our annual poetry contest. Previous poetry winners will be featured on the air with us, so be sure to tune in and hear the poets in their own voices as they read their winning poems! Special thanks to our host, Stephen Sakellarios, who made all this happen (thank you, Stephen!).

Poets joining us tonight include Judith Prest, Lawrence Kessenich, Skip Renker, Wendy Winn, Monica Devine, Levi Andrew Noe, Kaveri Patel, Rick Kempa, Drew Myron, Carly Sachs, Holly Hughes, and Mankh. And me, of course, founder and director of Spirit First.

Tune in at 8 p.m. EDT or listen later in the archived programs. Find the broadcast here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/metaphysicalexplorations.

Oh, and these poetry winners on the air with us tonight are from 2010, 2011, and 2012. This year's poetry contest winners are not yet announced.

Grant me daily the grace of gratitude,
to be thankful for all my many gifts,
and so be freed from artificial needs,
that I might lead a joyful, simple life.

 

~ Edward Hays
A Book of Wonders

 

   photography by permission
graham jeffery

The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.

~  Brother Lawrence
The Practice of the Presence of God

Benefits of Mindfulness

I just read an excellent article recently published to discuss the effects of meditation and mindfulness on the brain. You can find it here: Power of Concentration

Fourth Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Spirit First is pleased to announce its fourth annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished.

Deadline: January 31, 2013
First Prize: $175
Second Prize: $125
Third Prize: $75

Please do not enter more than three submissions. Sending more than three poems will lead to those poems being disqualified.

Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have Internet access. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by January 31, 2013.

Please submit your poems all in one file or inside the body of an email (rather than three poems in three separate files). Please be sure to include the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2013.

Winners will be announced no later than April 30, 2013, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website and the Spirit First blog, and in a Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:

By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.

By U.S. Postal Service (for those without Internet access), send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787

We look forward to reading your poems!

 

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
~ Henry David Thoreau

photography by permission

graham jeffery

The louder our world today is, the deeper God seems to remain in silence.

 Silence is the language of eternity; noise passes.

~ Gertrud von Le Fort

 

photography by permission

cindy lee jones

 

Poetry Contest Editor's Choice Award

Spirit First is pleased to announce the Editor's Choice Award 2012 goes to Monica Devine for her poem "this." Monica Devine is the author of four children’s books, among them Iditarod: The Greatest Win Ever, a former nominee for the celebrated Golden Kite Award. Her adult nonfiction piece, On The Edge of Ice (about her travels with a whaling crew in the Arctic), won First Place in the Dorothy Churchill Cappon Award for Creative Nonfiction with the literary journal New Letters. Other credits include First Place winner in the Fairbanks Arts Association Annual Statewide Poetry Contest for her poem “No One Thing.”

Monica has traveled extensively to Indian and Eskimo villages throughout Alaska in her work as a speech-language pathologist, and she draws inspiration from the wilderness just outside her backdoor to write, paint, and practice the art of photography. Her fifth children’s book, Kayak Girl, is forthcoming from the University of Alaska Press.

this

by Monica Devine  

I have walked 100 steep steps to the Buddha’s home

And chanted with monks in an exotic Hindu temple.

I have meditated in a cave afraid of darkness until my

mind softened into no sound.

I have sung Latin and received the holy wafer on my tongue,

and walked the Medicine Wheel singing songs

to Mother Earth under a full moon.

Yet in all my pleas to the heavens asking to what drum

does my heart resonate?

my hands unfold

my chest rises and falls with each breath

and a quiet voice says, This.

Just     this.

Poetry Contest First-Place Winner

Spirit First is pleased to announce the winners of the third annual Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest. Entries arrived from 37 states in the United States (including the District of Columbia) and 19 other nations worldwide. Thank you to everyone who participated (your poems were wonderful...), and congratulations to our winners. And now, here are our 2012 winners and their poems:   

Lawrence Kessenich is awarded first place for his poem “Meditating with a Dog Named Vasana.” Lawrence Kessenich is an accomplished poet living in Massachusetts—he won the 2010 Strokestown International Poetry Prize, and his poetry has been published in Atlanta Review, Poetry Ireland Review, Cream City Review, Ibbetson Street, and many other magazines. His chapbook Strange News was published by Pudding House Publications in 2008. Another chapbook was a semi-finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award and finalist for the Spire Press Chapbook Contest. His current collection, Before Whose Glory, was a semi-finalist for the Off the Grid contest. His poem “Underground Jesus” was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Kessenich has also published essays, one of which was featured on NPR’s This I Believe in 2010 and appears in the anthology This I Believe: On Love. His play Ronnie’s Charger was produced in Colorado in 2011.

Meditating with a Dog Named Vasana*

by Lawrence Kessenich

The mind is not easily ignored.

Told to sit in the corner like

a good little dog, he disobeys

bringing thoughts like toys:

a green rubber block, a stuffed squirrel,

an old, slimy, gnawed-over bone.

Take this simple mantra, I tell him,

and play with that. But he wants to do more.

He barks, licks my face, sniffs my crotch,

drops a brightly colored ball at my feet.

Vasana! I say sharply.

But to no avail. He is my dog

and requires my attention.

I toss his ball across the room

again and again and again.

He brings it back to me

again and again and again.

Until, finally, he drops it,

lays down in his corner, and falls asleep,

dreaming of sticks thrown into rivers.

Good dog, Vasana. Good dog.

Sanskit word for concept “monkey mind”

2012 Poetry Contest Second-Place Winner

Second-place honors go to Skip Renker for his poem “Silent Reach.”

F.W. "Skip" Renker lives in Midland, Michigan, and teaches English, Introduction to Meditation, and World Religions courses at Delta Community College.  He has published poems in small press magazines and is the author of two chapbooks, Birds of Passage and Sifting the Visible.  He lives on the Pine River in mid-Michigan and draws inspiration from the natural world, from his wife Julia Fogarty, from family and friends, and from the Source of all being.

A Silent Reach

            by Skip Renker

There’s a stillness in the world

that lives at dusk in the tapering pines
near the riverbank, light held in high branches,
darkness further down and deeper
in the woods.  Nothing is dead,

not the stumps, the trees
bare of leaves, the pine needles
on the forest floor, the smooth rocks parting
the river, and not this stillness,
wholly self-contained,

needing nothing, yet
waiting for us to awaken in it, 
as if, like roots, stillness lives to reach, reach
to feed on the world and give back through
itself, servant and conduit.

all along the line 
it lives to reach, to feed
and be fed on.
  
needing nothing, yet
waiting for me to wake up to it.
Sleep isn’t stillness.  Stillness is awake
to its roots.  It lives, it lives
to reach, to feed.

2012 Poetry Contest Third-Place Winner

Third-place honors go to Holly Hughes for her poem “Credo.” Holly J. Hughes is the editor of the award-winning anthology Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s Disease, published by Kent State University Press, and she is the author of Boxing the Compass,  published by Floating Bridge Press. Nominated for several Pushcart prizes, her poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies.  The Pen and the Bell: Mindful Writing in a Busy World, a collaboration with essayist Brenda Miller, is forthcoming from Skinner House Press in May 2012.

A graduate of Pacific Lutheran University’s MFA program, she teaches writing at Edmonds Community College, where she
co-directs the Sustainability Initiative and Convergence Writers Series. She has spent over 30 summers working on the water in Alaska in a variety of capacities, including commercial fishing for salmon, skippering a 65-foot schooner, and more recently, working as a naturalist.   She divides her time between Indianola and Chimacum, Washington.

Credo
by Holly Hughes

Make a place for the glint in the seal’s eye that second before
it rolls back its slick head, slips silent beneath the surface.

Make room for the shimmer of salmon, splitting the sun, leaping
for the stream of its birth, even knowing what’s ahead.

Carve out a corner for the crab who grasped the blade
of the cleaver that sliced it in two, wouldn’t let go. 

That light, dazzling dark sea ahead, remember it, remember
how it seeps from billowing cumulous when you least expect

or how the sun finds the crack in the horizon’s solder to empty
out its cargo at dusk, a slick sheen across the water.

How the green spinning earth and blue brimming sea go on and on
even when we’re not looking,  and that perhaps, if we can pay

attention for even a second, remember just this, it may not
make us whole, but it could be a good place to begin.

What we have to learn, in both meditation and in life, is to be free of attachment to the good experiences, and free of aversion to the negative ones. ~ Sogyal Rinpoche

In meditations last month we practiced a breathing exercise promoted by Dr. Andrew Weil, a great practice for calming the mind. This exercise may be quite simple, but it calls for great awareness. I love, love, love this practice. Here are the details:

Breath Counting (reprinted without permission but hopefully Dr. Weil won't mind)

If you want to get a feel for this challenging work, try your hand at breath counting, a deceptively simple technique much used in Zen practice.

Sit in a comfortable position with the spine straight and head inclined slightly forward. Gently close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Then let the breath come naturally without trying to influence it. Ideally it will be quiet and slow, but depth and rhythm may vary.

• To begin the exercise, count "one" to yourself as you exhale.
• The next time you exhale, count "two," and so on up to "five."
• Then begin a new cycle, counting "one" on the next exhalation.

Never count higher than "five," and count only when you exhale. You will know your attention has wandered when you find yourself up to "eight," "12," even "19."

Try to do 10 minutes of this form of meditation.

the Buddha on meditation

Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom. 
~ Buddha

Spirit First is now on MeetUp!

Spirit First hosts monthly meditations in the Washington, D.C., area and you can now join us on MeetUp. We are a regular bunch of busy people who like to take time out to pause, breathe, and meditate. We are from all faiths and disciplines, and everyone is welcome. Monthly gatherings include mindfulness meditation, guided meditation, music meditation, and silent meditation. We look forward to sharing sacred space with you. Find us here: Spirit First MeetUp.

Third Annual Poetry Contest

Third Annual Spirit First Poetry Contest

Deadline: January 31, 2012
First Prize: $175
Second Prize: $125
Third Prize: $75

Complete guidelines:

Spirit First is pleased to announce its third annual meditation poetry contest. Poetry submissions may be of any length and any style but must have a theme of meditation, mindfulness, stillness, or silence. Poems may reflect any discipline, any faith, or none. Poems must be previously unpublished.

Please do not enter more than three submissions. Sending more than three poems will lead to those poems being disqualified.

Please submit your poems by email unless you do not have access to the Internet. Poems will be accepted by U.S. Postal Service for those who do not have Internet access. All others are requested to be emailed. Poems sent by U.S. Postal Service will not be returned. Poems must be received by January 31, 2012.

Poems should be submitted with a cover note listing the author's name, address, telephone number, and email address. There is no cost to enter this contest. Submissions must be received no later than January 31, 2012.

Winners will be announced no later than March 31, 2012, on the Spirit First website at www.spiritfirst.org. Winning poems will be published on the Spirit First website and the Spirit First blog, and in the Spirit First newsletter (authors retain full rights to their poems). Selected poems may be invited to participate in an upcoming book publication (authors will retain full rights to their poems).

How to submit:
By email: send to meditate@spiritfirst.org.
By U.S. Postal Service (for those without Internet access), send to the following address:

Spirit First Poetry Contest
PO Box 8076
Langley Park, MD 20787

We look forward to reading your poems!

“Don’t tell me how wonderful things will be . . . someday. Show me you can risk being completely at peace, truly okay with the way things are right now in this moment, and again in the next and the next and the next . . .” ~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

First-place Winning Poem

Spirit First is pleased and honored to announce the first-place winning poem for 2011 awarded to Levi Noe for his poem “Om.” Levi is a native Coloradan and a graduate of Metropolitan State College of Denver with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a concentration in writing. Currently he is a teacher of children ages 1 1/2 to 6 years at Montessori Academy of Colorado, but beginning in May 2011 he will be an English teacher in Japan with the English Academy of Communication. Levi's free time is spent reading, writing, bicycling, snowboarding, cooking, eating, learning, unlearning and drinking in life. His current and future goals include, but are not limited to, the fields of writing, education, healing, freeing, and empowering. 

         

Om

by Levi Noe

The bee’s buzz— the hum, the love

                        Is this Om?

I chase it with my

           honey-hungry

                    wild longing.

What do flowers chant

to make the bees come?

Levi Noe

First-place Winner

Spirit First Poetry Contest 2011

Second-place Winner

Second-place honors go to Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) for his poem “This Is the Somewhere You Wanted To Get To.” Mankh is a writer, small press publisher, and Turtle Islander who lives in Suffolk County, New York. His most recent book of poems is Adam Had No Earthly Navel. Mankh takes pleasure in nature and enjoys listening to music, learning about various spiritual traditions, and keeping up with world news and cultural trends. His literary website: www.allbook-books.com.

This Is the Somewhere
You Wanted To Get To
by Mankh (Walter E. Harris III)

this bus stop
before the bus arrives
is also a destination

this bagel & coffee
in the car before
the work day begins

this reading
and delivering of this communiqué,
this now
is the somewhere you wanted to get to

if you could just
kick it down a notch
you would notice this
bliss that lives in the cracks,
between the lines,
in the air called empty
by those who never noticed
this is the somewhere
to get to

if you have arrived
then you are not waiting,
not hoping,
not needing,
step right up, ladies and gentlemen,
see it before you believe it

if this is really the somewhere
you wanted to get to
then clear the table
and call off the dogs,
call off the second coming,
turn off the porch light,
all bets are off,
send the posse packing home
and let's just waltz
between the starry firmness
guiding us, guiding us on

let's just stand, arms outstretched,
a pack of canines
licking our un-crossed palms,
sandpipers piping the sand,
let's take a stand and take our time,
let's give a shit,
make it work,
let's shake it down and do it up

open your mind
allow the clouds
to roll on by
as a goldfinch
eats the thistle seeds
then whistles blissfully
this is the somewhere

Third-place Winner

Third-place honors go to Kaveri Patel for her poem “Forgiveness.” Kaveri is a practicing family physician in northern California. In her seven years of practice, she has found that compassionate listening is perhaps more important than the exact medical diagnosis. Her own healing journey has taught her that kindness is key to meeting all difficulties in life. She especially loves to empower women and help them reconnect with the sacred feminine within.

Kaveri has written for MotherVerse, Passing It On, and the Palo Alto/Menlo Park Parents Newsletter. She enjoys writing both poetry and prose as a means of connecting with self and the world around her. Kaveri lives with her beautiful husband, daughter, and mother in northern California. In her free times she enjoys mindfulness meditation, yoga, singing, music, the ocean, and spending time with her family.

Forgiveness

by Kaveri Patel

 

There’s something new about the world
the day after it rains.
It’s as if an artist
erased the whole palette,
then redrew homes, the trees, the sky
with bolder outlines, and brightened
them with new paint
more vibrant than the old colors.

What if we were all artists
washing away old images of ourselves
with tears of forgiveness?
What if you could see
past outer appearances
and your heart was
your only canvas?
Would you imbue it
with the shades of your love,
or tear it to pieces
to equal
your number of self judgments?

There's something new about the world
the day after it rains.
An artist erases the whole palette
for the chance to begin again.

Spoken Poem Award

Spirit First is very pleased to announce the Spoken Poem Award 2011 goes to Frank James Davis of Troy, New York, for his poem "For Enlightenment."

For Enlightenment

            by Frank James Davis

As I now rise

to start life's sleep,

I pray the Lord

my truth to keep.

Working each day,

until I'm dust,

I've yet to learn

just why I must.

My mind might soon

remember why,

if I should wake

before I die.

Editor's Choice Award

Spirit First is pleased to announce the Editor's Choice Award 2011 goes to Rick Kempa for his poem "In Northern India Right Now." Rick is a poet and essayist living in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where he teaches writing and philosophy at Western Wyoming College. A book of his poems, Keeping the Quiet, is available from Bellowing Ark Press. Rick is also a poet featured in our Spirit First poetry book Moments of the Soul 2010.

In Northern India Right Now 
by Rick Kempa (for the students in my Religious Studies class)

In Northern India right now

there is a thin, thin man.

He is naked and has been so

for decades.

He is standing off to the side of the road

on one leg,

his other leg tucked high against his inner thigh,

his hands clasped before him.

He has no possessions

not even a bowl like the Buddhist monk.

When villagers come out in the evening to feed him

(because holy men must be fed)

he uses the bowl of his hands.

He does not cut his hair

because it is a home for creatures.

When he walks he brushes the path before him

with a clutch of peacock feathers

so as not to harm the creatures.

He will not kill the mosquito that drinks his blood

If he is attacked by a dog, he is bitten.

He is pursuing

                        pursuing

                                    pursuing

the Way.

What are we to make of him?

In Iran there are men who

whirl and whirl for days in circles,

their hair, their black cloaks flowing behind them

turning inward towards the truth, towards love,

deserting their egos

seeking through the sacred dance

the Way.

What are we to make of them?

In a small town in New Mexico each spring

one man is chosen—honored—to be the one

who has his clothes torn from him,

who bears the lash, wears the crown of thorns,

who, barefoot, hauls the wooden cross up the steep hill,

is tied to it and stood upright,

while the community gathers in prayer at his feet,

believing that his suffering, his penance,

opens for them the Way.

What are we to make of them?

We might put them at a distance

as objects, curiosities. Weird! Strange!

We might even, if our own small world dictates,

judge them. They are wrong.

Their ways are not Truth

(meaning, of course, “my truth”).

We cannot enter their world views,

see them from within.

But can we at least stand at the edge,

understand them,

find something in their worlds

that speaks truth to us?

our resting place

There is a resting place, a starting place that you can always return to.  You can always bring your mind back home and rest right here, right now, in present, unbiased awareness.   ~Pema Chodron

true religion

A spiritual person tries less to be godly
than to be deeply human.

                                             ~ Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Jr.

photography by Madalina Diaconu

with permission

Spirit First on Facebook

Spirit First now has a presence on Facebook, and oh, my...what great joy this has become! It's been especially sweet for me to create the photo album for our Moments of the Soul poetry book (I had no idea how wonderful it would feel to see the faces of the poets whose words I have been reading for the past year).

Several days ago I sent the word out that we are on Facebook, and I asked folks to visit and choose to "like" our page. My intention was to reach 25 hits and wow, within about 24 hours we reached more than 80! I'm so pleased to have you all visit the page and support us and the work of Spirit First. I've felt encouraged by your presence, your comments, and your emails.With so many of you joining us here, it feels like community.

Come see us and visit us often:
http://www.facebook.com/TheSpiritFirstGroup.
You are warmly invited to "like" us. 
~ Diana Christine

on meditation...

Meditation is something wide and vast that ultimately expands into the Infinite. When we meditate, we throw ourselves into a vast expanse, into an infinite sea of peace and bliss, or we welcome the infinite Vast into us. Prayer rises; meditation spreads. Meditation is constantly growing and expanding into peace, light and delight. When we meditate, we gradually see, feel and grow into the entire universe of light and delight.   ~ Sri Chinmoy

take time to meditate...

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation. ~ Milarepa

Poems, poems, poems...

What a wonderful outpouring of poems we received for our Spirit First poetry contest for 2011…our contest closed on January 31, and now we are holding 1,022 poems from 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and 26 foreign countries. How beautiful this is! The state most represented is California with 105 poems, followed by New York with 84 entries. We received poems from a couple of states we didn’t hear from last year, like Alaska and North Dakota (we welcome you!).

We are especially honored and deeply pleased to receive poems from our international writers. We received 26 poems from India, followed by Canada with 24 entries. We received poems from all across the United Kingdom, including England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. Other nations we heard from include Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Nigeria, Philippines, France, Romania, Thailand, Germany, Ghana, Mexico, Qatar, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Dubai, Uganda, Pakistan, and Turkey. (We also received a few poems without locations indicated.)

Our poetry reviewing committee is busy reading each entry (thank you, team, for this is a very big work…), which will take several weeks. Winners will be announced by March 31 and will be posted on our website at www.SpiritFirst.org as well as here on our blog.

Thank you, all, for sharing with us your words, your thoughts, and your hearts. We are grateful for your generosity and blessed by your presence.