Curving toward the center

Wisdom of the duck

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

Mama duck has stopped her life to sit on nest
through windstorms, snowstorms, boredom –
her quiet presence knows
that a different presence will come
that a different need will emerge
she will need to change again

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged acceptance, coronavirus, duck, earth wisdom, panic, peace, presence, wisdom | Leave a comment

Wisdom of baby birds

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

Baby birds blind
mouths gaping open
trusting the source

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged bird, Birds, coronavirus, earth wisdom, help, help me, need, openness, spring, unknown, wisdom | Leave a comment

This love is not afraid of death

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

It is right that this pen I’m writing with is running low.
Death and lack.
The emptying and the return.
It is right to strip away the façade and see what’s left.
What is left?
The answer depends on what you’ve chosen to believe,
what you’ve chosen to commit your foundation to.
Thus there are billions of answers.
For me, behind the veneer of entertainment and comfort,
frivolities and seeming essentials, there is a creative force, an infinite love.
It includes death and surpasses it.
This love is not afraid of death.

As I write this, geese honk in the distance, unseen.

Posted in meditation, Poetry, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged calming, coronavirus, death, peace, transcendence | Leave a comment

Pandemics and imperfection

Posted on April 17, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

How much more do I desire perfection in a pandemic!
The pendulum swings to extremes
and I, unseeing, am not aware that this need for perfection
simply pushes it harder

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged balance, coronavirus, help, help me, pandemic, pendulum, perfectionism | Leave a comment

The quiet in the chaos

Posted on April 16, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

Into the darkness we go
as one heart, as a heart of nations, as a heart of world
stumbling and fearing and hoping
fighting and growing and rejoicing
chaos on top of chaos, it seems:
But there is a quiet thing here
and it is growing, this humble life;
it does not ask to be heard, nor demand attention
so it is quick to be overlooked;
the screams of the world cry out
and this quiet thing receives them, loves them
inspires us to attend, to serve and struggle and sacrifice,
and as we muddle through the darkness
whether we notice this quiet thing
whether we don’t
it keeps growing
this humble life

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in meditation, Poetry, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged calming, coronavirus, endurance, life, soothing, strength | Leave a comment

Spring and fall

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

Their identity is transition, liminal:
So much beauty there,
in the departed-but-not-yet-arrived

Posted in Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged autumn, fall, help, help me, liminal, seasons, spring, transition | Leave a comment

Comforting blindness

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

You are not supposed to see in the Deep
if you can, you are not deep enough

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged blindness, comfort, coronavirus, deep, help, help me, unknown | Leave a comment

Coronavirus door

Posted on April 14, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

Somewhere not far away, someone is working on a vaccine.

Somewhere very far away, someone is working on a vaccine.

Somewhere not far away, a grocery clerk goes to work.

Somewhere very far away, a grocery clerk goes to work.

Somewhere not far away, a parent teaches their child because schools are closed.

Somewhere very far away, a parent teaches their child because schools are closed.

A worldwide universal experience emerges,

crossing borders, skin tones, languages, cultures.

Boundaries of Other thin and shift under worldwide shared reality

of the boredom, gratitude, lack, and fear.

Before this, the only common global experience was world war: Humanity pursues death

Now, a new universal experience emerges: Humanity races for life

A door silently opens.

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged coronavirus, peace, unity | Leave a comment

When resources are taken away

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

When resources are taken away
go deeper
and you will find that they are not

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged calming, coronavirus, eternity, fullness, infinity, lack | Leave a comment

It’s Easter morning in a pandemic – or – Tethers

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Meisaan Chan

It’s Easter morning in a pandemic and the morning is very dark. Heavy clouds layer the sky. A cold wind blows. This is right. The earth still refuses to abide by human calendars. The earth is not happy and bright simply because it is Easter morning. The earth does not serve us. It is dark to the point that I light a candle. So funny how a candle helps make the world right again; I settle into my prayer chair, by my window, by my plant. So funny how the heart and body need to find small tethers to the Old World, and how these small tethers keep me walking upright upon the earth. They are not heavy enough to anchor me; instead, they straighten me, like a balloon in the Macy’s Day Parade. A tether, a tether, a tether, a tether: They are small yet valuable. They help me from going askance.

© Meisaan Chan

Posted in meditation, Poetry, recovery, Scripture riff, Spiritual poetry, writing | Tagged anchor, anxiety, calming, coronavirus, Easter, peace, surrender, tether | 2 Comments