At Sea

Poems of Empathy and Support
written by Alan Harris

10 of

I work very hard and I tire--
when will this work be done?
I long for sweet enlightenment
to provide a blissful rest.

       If contentment is enlightenment,
       then a cow is Buddha. Rest, yes,
       but within the work is the bliss.
       Just smell any swamp in repose.

I want to walk the path
but how without a teacher?
So many paths are beckoning
that I'm at sea with confusion.

       At sea is a good place to be
       beneath millions of stars,
       each at one time bewildered
       but now guiding your journey.

I feel that I may be ready
but the teachers appearing seem
prophets eyeing their profits,
unschooled in even honesty.

       Will your teacher knock at your door?
       Be found on some random sidewalk?
       Have you listened? Inwardly heard?
       Serve and create; serve and listen.

From Just Below Now (2000)
by Alan Harris

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