To breathe the first breath of ocean air
Deep into my starving lungs
As sun dips down to half past seven
I realize the tide’s becoming.
Even with my toes exposed
I find salt refreshingly tickling my nose,
Seagulls cry in celebration
And driftwood leads me forever on.
I roll my pants to half mast
And whistle to a little snail
Who’s slowly off to go out sailing
And I, my eye, to the clear blue sky.
Tag: ocean
Sweet Salty Kisses (day 1509)
I imagine you’re an ocean.
I imagine you’re so full and buoyant
That my hide is held afloat
Through this warm summer night.
I imagine your strong winds
Fill my sails with speed,
Sending my wake into places
I’m not looking behind.
I imagine you’re sweet salty kisses
Touching my lips,
Enlivening me to my breath
Refocusing my attention to the little drops
Left about my goosebump covered skin.
Earth (day 1483)
With your heart beat –
Thundering through mountains,
Across crevaces,
Through valleys, full cities
And Oceans so far
An eye cannot see
But know, undoubtly,
That horizon lines
Only trick us
To believe your gravity is
Comprehensible –
My heart beats.
With your ebb and my flow
A unity gathers so strongly
That when left unchecked,
A wobbling and teetering
And quivering begins.
Thus, over this floating mass
Of carbon based matter
Quantum does exist,
Qi is your heart,
And my breath like every other breath
Is a slave to your every
Beck and call.
Polo Shirts (day 1448)
Rhythm is a magic thing.
Ebb.
Flow.
It takes the heart
And encircles it with
Falling Autumn leaves
And afternoon window shoppers
Dressed in
Late-morning-sunshine-yellow polo shirts
And walked-a-mile shoes.
Rhythm is two steps
For every one breath
On a muggy evening
Along a windy, ocean view
Pedestrians only path
In a healthy city.
Rhythm is necessary,
Just as long steady gusts for big bubbles
And late afternoon naps are.
Because if the heart takes a leap
And forgets which beat
Is flip flopping around deep inside,
Then all mastery of any subject
Is floating lifelessly away
Amidst breadcrumbs scattered for ducks
In a sea of slugs on a hungry Tuesday.
Island in the Sun (day 1436)
Dear George,
It’s been a while since we last talked,
For that I am sorry,
I hope you do not wait impatiently for my letters…
Like I do.
I have been off to the tropics,
A tiny little island in the middle of the sea
Where geckos climb banana trees
And the end of rainbows are within walking distance.
I swam in the ocean here,
Swam with sea turtles as large as sheep
And walked most places without shoes or sandals on.
I think you would have appreciated our diets,
We were mostly eating local vegetarian cuisines
And I learned how to make kichari and nutmilks.
Some of the people I was staying with
Indulged in bliss balls,
And yes, the name alludes to the taste of these heavenly things.
With the leftover bits I’ve strained out of the nutmilks
I’ve begun to make at home now,
I plan on making some bliss balls of my own,
For snacking.
It’s been an interesting journey for me trying to reintegrate into society.
I’ve been taking it slow,
Going for multiple bike rides – which I love so much – every day.
Along the ocean here and through my favorite parts of town.
I’m doing lots of writing,
Which you also know I love to do so much.
I’ve just finished a book entitled Okham’s Razor
That was comparing the contrasting views of reality
Between the Middle Ages all the way up to the present day.
Along with the learning I did at the yoga immersion
On the tropical island in the sun,
I’ve begun to really get clear questions
I’m searching for.
I’m excited to remember everything,
And grow with everything at the same time.
Love is good, food is good, life is good.
I hope yours is too.
Hope to talk soon,
Sincerely,
Joshua Radlin
Ashram Day 8 (day 1411)
A repeated whisper finally touched my senses,
Leaving a mark upon my soul.
It was said I was to be a lover,
To unite with all I’ve to offer,
Like sacred pools near sweeping oceans
Another whisper upon my neck.
Crawl out upon breaking waters!
Raise your hands up to the gods!
A breath beneath your light footsteps,
A sun upon your brow.
My Sensei (day 1401)
I walk across the open ocean
My sensei speaks in broken English
Blue appears in every hue
Sand I break upon my way
Hand In Love (day 1397)
Painting all my perfect fingers
The colour of aloha,
I’ve forgot
Her dear sandals
Back at the ocean floor.
But in the fret
I’ve not forgotten
Five tiny darling seashells,
That I picked
While out walking
Hand in hand in love.
Sensations (day 1395)
A feeling of high lifting
Tingling sensations;
Crawling and digging
And reaching these finest points
Of the richest parts
Of Love’s bountiful ocean.
Opacity (day 1366)
Mist hovers around distant peaks
In layers of varying degrees of opacity.
This romantic gesture of nature
Elegantly caresses the rolling edges
Of Oceans’ depth,
Lapping in anticipation of condensation,
Of erosion, of a life ready for swimming
And torrents swiftly moving debris,
Leftover madness,
In a slow waltz towards decomposition.
For life in its continued cycle
Sweeps all amongst its grip,
Heaves and blows, wisps and snows.
And goes and goes between distant tree tops
Of deep hidden green
Where damp darkness within hallows out
Moss and lichen’s dear nest,
Amidst fallen giants, long ever lasting,
With hearts of true desire so deeply brown
That all surrounding colour forms a perfect match,
Like needle covered ground,
Healthily swept clean of fungi
By the little nature cleaners,
Bacteria and organisms alive in depths
Scarcely observed in fleeting moments of daylight,
Heavily felt as clouds consistently continue
Rolling along distant peaks
In varying degrees of opacity.