hope is an orientation of the spirit

 

Hope

is a state of mind,

not of the world. It is an

orientation of the spirit and

orientation of the heart; it transcends

the world that is immediately experienced and

is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. Hope, in

this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things

are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously

heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is

good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more propitious

the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is.

Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not

the conviction that something will turn out well,

but the certainty that something makes

sense, regardless of how it

turns out.
 

Václav Havel

 

empty sky

 

Awareness

is inherently pure like

the empty sky. Stress, annoyance,

and anger can temporarily

occupy its space but can

never pollute

it.
 

Haemin Sunim

 

an afternoon in hell


 

He cries for awhile, for no apparent reason.

Sniffs, blows his nose. Then goes about his

business, stomp, pound, smash, crush, explode.

Then cries a little more, sob, blubber, bleat.

It’s awful, he says. It’s of no use. He throws

his chair through the window. It’s a mess, he says.

The whole damned thing is useless. Now he’s

really weeping, cascades, waterfalls, rivers.

I shouldn’t bother, he says. It’s a big, miserable

waste of time. His wife walks in. Honey,

haven’t you finished changing the baby yet?

Almost finished, he chirps.

 

James Tate

 

the lovely arc of a meteor in the night sky

 

At the party there were those sage souls

who swam along the bottom like those huge white

fish who live for hundreds of years but have no

fun. They are nearly blind and need the cold.

William was a stingray guarding his cave. Only

those prepared for mortal battle came close to

him. Closer to the surface the smaller fish

played, swimming in mixed patterns only a god

could decipher. They gossiped and fed and sparred

and consumed, and some no doubt even spawned.

It’s a life filled with agitation, thrills,

melodrama and twittery, but too soon it’s over.

And nothing’s revealed because it was never known.

 

James Tate