Awake— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
Awareness; so easy to conceive, so hard to maintain
and each time I let it slip I know
sooner or later that I’ve lost it
when I awake, adrift, again.
No formula will do it, only doing it will.
As the knife hones to the sharpening stone,
so I must go into it … ever into it
leaving all thoughts of ‘it’ behind.
Food, sleep, exercise, work, loving and seeing
are but a few names of the places I’ve slept.
Bhagwan, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tzu, and Mohammad
are but a few names of those
who have called us to awake.
Here I write to make tangible the meditation
but this paper and ink are not it.
Here I am awake and want to stay so
a baby Buddha crawling towards the light.
gallagher
27 july 83 – Irvine, CA
Archive for the ‘Irvine’ Category
1983-07-27 Awake
Wednesday, July 27th, 19831983-09-13
Tuesday, September 13th, 1983Patterns seem to be forming— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
and I begin to fear War
I read ‘The Clowns of God’ by Morris
and now the real Pope announces
that he feels War more immanent
because of the rising cries for peace.
And some where in the last few days
I read that someone (the Pope?)
feels we’re leaving the ‘post-war period’
and entering a ‘pre-war period’.
In Beruit 28 men out of 90 survived
a hand to hand attack with hatchets
and, then, the Korean flight, 007,
was shot down this last week.
The faces of Danny and Chris swim before my eyes
against the back drop of nuclear conflict
and the inescapability of Los Angeles
in wartime.
The only thing that comes to mind
when I try to imagine War as not inevitable
is the sheer stupidity of it.
But, somehow, that seems small defense
in the world of ever lessening resources
and ever growing competition for them.
Children, families, neighborhoods, blood lines
toys, momentos, health, life, and life works
are all irrevocably torn asunder by War …
Where will I hide a little boy
who says, ‘Daddy, I love you, so much.’
and hugs me with such simple trust…?
gallagher
13 September 83 – Irvine, CA
1983-09-13
Tuesday, September 13th, 1983Wordless against the world of ideas— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
echoes of passion, memories of causes
cannot stir, as feeling those things once did
and I feel I must appear slow
or non-verbal these days.
Lisa, so bright, burns her mid-twenties
on the pyre of ideas and understandings
and I found it hard to participate with her
because I was reminiscing while she was creating
So, I wonder, do I listen to a more subtle drummer
or am I just dying at the wheel
it’s strange that we pass from things
and become something, someone
no longer able to go back.
gallagher
13 september 83 – Irvine – talking to Lisa
