Blissful breath

I searched far and wide,

Explored different parts of the world.

Toiled night and day,

To afford mundane experiences.

I loved, wooed, pursued and cared for,

Family, friends, and beloved,

To experience and savour,

fleeting moments of happiness.

I strived to overcome prejudice,

To live fairly and with honour,

Treating Foes and friends alike,

Presuming that I would be treated likewise.

 

I observed wide gaps between

Perspectives and perceptions, 

Intentions, actions and outcomes,

Futile and often blind pursuits

of an elusive dream.

Reality rudely shook me time and again,

Day in and day out,

Making me realise how habits, patterns and blindspots,

Influence and overpower one and all.

One ordinary day, 

I accidentally stumbled on myself 

Experienced my ownself,

The bliss of each breath,

The joy of aloof attention,

A lively awareness,

A simple yet profound experience,

My freedom from the crowd,

A quiet celebration every moment, 

Moment to moment.

Breath to breath.

On the eve of Mother's day, A beautiful poem written by Nora Bateson called "Mama now.”

"Mama now.”

Your eyes will see the derailing of assumptions,

Your hands will hold the crumble of the old matrix.

I do not have any authority to lean into.

I have empty pockets where parents used to advise their children.

I don’t have any maps, myths, or mother wisdom for you.

I can fix your breakfast, but not the culture.

When you ask about how to be a good person, I cannot lie to you.

Everything you touch in a day is in some way bloodied.

You’ve been born into an edgeless violence.

But I will not judge or measure you against a bygone metric.

I am here too, ready to learn with you, unsure how to be or who to be.

I can only read fragments of your worry,

As the future is a horizon of confusion, I cannot protect you,

And yet it is my only job.

Aching as I witness from this side of the hourglass,

other generations of parents’ new outlines, school, career, family, and retirement,

but your life will be another shape entirely forming in the fractures.

When you say you need a goal, I offer you an expired ticket.

Superficial memes roll off the tongue right into your bullshit detector.

Success in the existing system is not gonna do you much good.

Your integrity is your rage, and I will nourish it.

Your dignity is your curiosity and I am tiny beside it.

Your courage is your pain and I will sing to it with you.

We will riot together.

We will notice the nuance of small graces in the day,

We will wash the grip of loss for each other.

I am your mama and your future is the story of a storm.

I am your cabin, your boots, your rucksack.

Source: Post on Amplifying cognition