My book of poetry: The Hundred Nine
One hundred nine poems of love and longing that recount the majesty and magic that our hearts sing straight to the ear of God. With all of the glory. With all of the hope. With all of the good and with all of the loss. Love has many petals. Many folds. Many shapes. Yet is always beautiful.
Click Here to listen to me read a selection from the book. I am a poet not a singer.
I suppose I fashion my writing after the spiritualists and lovers, such as Rumi, Namdev, Hafiz, Marvell, and Neruda. Great poets aren't looking for rhyme and don't necessarily look for rhythm, but are instead fascinated with an ideal. They look at the dream, be it Love, God, or dipping into their own shallow wells, to find words for the spark that set them to life. It is as if the greats glimpsed the very eye of God and as they begin to go mad and their hearts erupt, they try to reason out what they have witnessed. They use words and the limitation frustrates them into insane metaphor. Dream as a singularity while living as the infinite.
I also have some training in music, played for years in numerous bands throughout Southern California.
What I have done here, just for the fun of it, is taken some of my poetry and put it to simple music. Just me and a guitar. It is really about the poetry and the words. It is about the underlying thoughts, the spirituality of the deeper meaning.
All of poems are mine. This is not Saint Namdev's poetry, although I will read some of his work in live readings.
Thank you for stopping by.
Advice to Young Lovers
by Namdev
One can only walk between the rain for so long before they get wet.
One lie leads to thunder and torrential downpours.
Always tell the truth, it will limit the rain and Your Love will be an umbrella.
Without supplication You end up standing
On those that pray for Your safety.
Always be ready to lay at her feet, for if she also lays at Yours: Equality!
The old adage of being a reed in the wind:
Be Humble, and bend with love and the wind,
The dance is everything!
Fear is a contagent, once sneezed into the ether
It sickens everyone that comes in contact with it.
Always acknowledge that fear lingers in Your heart, Love is medicine.
Stingy animals may eat, but not as often.
Share everything, from kisses to closet space,
If more is needed, God will provide.
No cub survives the winter without its fur
Be the warmth and protection
You would be for Yourself; she is an extension of You!
A zebra does not change its stripes but is able to change its course
You fell in love with the zebra stripes don’t paint over them,
But find a pace that both of You can trot.
All of nature sings with the coming of the sun
And weeps when it sets.
Tell her everything, sing and cry in nature.
Sometimes the road is impassable
Why not set up camp? Enjoy the stars; each other.
Patience, God waits with love, can’t we?
God offers us forgiveness from our sins,
Even when we can not forgive ourselves.
Practice forgiveness like pulling water from the sea.
The acorn roots where it falls.
In Love, once planted, believe in Your roots, don't get antsy to move.
Her roots, just below the surface, will mix with Yours, trust her deep strength.
Lions appear courageous even to other lions,
Be courageous in Love be ready to stave off the world
It is in courage that we sense true loyalty.
It is the wind that spreads the flower's seed
When one is seed the other should be the wind
In this way You fly forever together.
