Tammy Stone Takahashi
Three Poems The mountain needs climbingthe wheel needs turningthe river is flowingthe river is flowing The road needs walkingthe eyes need seeingthe sun is risingthe sun is setting The heart needs lovingthe hands need touchingthe moon is engorgingthe moon is thinning The self needs communingthe body needs tuningthe ground is supportingthe sky is protecting The world needs lovingThe world is hurtingwe are the lovingwe are the loving * Not to look to the ground, but to become the ground,at times porous and trembling,but more often than not,steady, sturdy, nourishing. Not to count the trees,but to become a tree,one among sisters and brothersspeaking quietly underground,patiently, so patiently,withstanding the ravages of time. Not to contemplate the mountainbut to become the mountain,billowing towers of strengthcome from such tumult below,powerful peaks among the gods,also where the most fragile flowersand smallest of creatures can grow. Not to imagine the nearby river,but to become the river,making the most delightful sounds,never rushing, but inevitably easingto where it is destined to go. Not only to build a home,but to become a home,a container of stories and harmony,a vessel for time to pass through,and to fill with all our necessities,acceptance, forgiveness, compassion,and love. With every breath. Love. * How many have strolled here, Along the Philosopher’s PathWatching spring give way to summerContemplations bloomThe soft cascading Descent ofTime. I sit on stoneAnd open my skin So that the willowy minds of history Fall like gentle rained Into me. We move togetherEven when we don’t knowThe journey is ours That we ourselvesEmbody the philosopher’s WayThe Way ofWonder. Tammy Stone Takahashi is a Canadian writer and poet. Her short stories have been published in orion headless, Broken City Magazine, Dairy River, Grace Notes Magazine and SNReview. She has been a featured writer and columnist for elephant journal and The Tattooed Buddha, writing about wellness and the arts. Her poetry has been widely published and anthologized, and her first poetry collection, Formation: Along the Ganges and Back Again, was published in 2015. Her most recent collection, Land, was published in 2018. She has also served as co-editor on two anthologies of spiritual poetry by women writers, including Poetry as a Spiritual Practice: Illuminating the Awakened Woman (2017).