Category Archives: mindfulness

February 18, 2019 · 8:30 pm

I Was Me – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Envision – Word of the Day

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Graphic: pixabay.com

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”  T.S. Eliot ‘Little Gidding’ (Four Quartets)

 

I Was Me

In my dream
we launched the Major Tom
and thrust through painted skies
hung with unknown stars,
like Theramania and Volsatus,
with exotic faces
and rarefied air,
a luminous melange
beckoning us
with exciting possibilities,
and yet,
even as we landed,
I knew that I was me
and you were you,
and that’s how it should be,
that’s how it is.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul,  pvcann.com

23 Comments

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February 15, 2019 · 2:50 pm

Selfless Beauty – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Humble – Word of the Day

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Photo found at instantshift.com (photographer unknown). Elite runner Jaqueline Kiplimo helps disabled Chinese runner (name unknown) to drink while running the Zheng-Kai Marathon in 2010. She stayed with him for some time, costing her first place and the $10,000 prize money. I guess some things are more important than money. There’s something particularly moving about this for me.

 

Selfless Beauty

Perhaps,
the world has, for a time,
taken to staring into its mirror,
but occasionally someone comes along,
and awakens our sense of the other,
like a man washing someone’s feet,
some woman helping lepers,
a sometime president living humbly
in a ramshackle farmhouse,
that fireman giving water
to a stranded koala,
or whoever helped the aged
person carry their groceries,
selfless beauty
that colours every breath.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

52 Comments

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February 12, 2019 · 2:35 pm

Lighter – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

What Do You See?

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Unlike a maze, which is a cousin of the labyrinth, the labyrinth has one path in and the same path out. The maze is a puzzle to go through and solve, while the labyrinth is a trusted rhythm to be meditated or contemplated in while walking. Whereas you conquer a maze, the labyrinth enables you to self reflect.

Lighter

The gentle rhythm
of this walking meditation
is a metaphor for life itself,
walking to my center,
turning,
and turning again,
each turn a momentary still point
for reflection,
and the middle a waiting,
a wrestling,
a letting go,
just the place to leave something
of self,
while the return journey
is always the lighter for it.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Paul, pvcann.com

41 Comments

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February 10, 2019 · 3:20 pm

Everything – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Sage – RDP Sunday

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Photo: nlooie.blogspot.com

 

“He who does not answer the questions has passed the test.”  Franz Kafka

 

Everything

No words came,
just silence in the presence
was enough,
nothing was fixed,
but everything fell away.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

11 Comments

Filed under Five Lines, Free Verse, life, meditation, mindfulness, poem, self-development, Spirituality

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February 9, 2019 · 2:06 pm

A Shared Space – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Sanctuary – RDP Saturday

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Photo: europaleisure.com (it seems that I am not the one who photographs our garden!)

“When you increase the number of gardens, you increase the number of heavens too.”  Mehmet Murat ildan

 

A Shared Space

In the garden of restoration
there is a chair,
another too,
an invitation
with table and wine,
a sharing amidst nature’s
colours and sounds,
that sweet moist air,
and the silence craved at day’s end.
A sanctuary to ponder madness
To dream our dreams,
and to divine purpose,
though not an end
of all our being.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Paul, pvcann.com

26 Comments

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February 8, 2019 · 11:09 pm

Her Own True Way – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Strength – Word of the Day

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Photo: unsplash.com

 

“I’m grateful that, after an early life of being silenced, sometimes violently, I grew up to have a voice, circumstances that will always bind me to the rights of the voiceless.”  Rebecca Solnit

 

Her Own True Way

She felt voiceless,
shut down,
cut down,
weighed down,
yet she had an inner strength,
something deep,
and she drew it forth,
and set off,
in her own true way.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

24 Comments

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February 7, 2019 · 3:53 pm

So Simple – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Revelation – Word of the Day

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Photo: Orchid at Talgomine Reserve, winter 2018.

 

“Those things that nature denied to human sight, she revealed to the eyes of the soul.”  Ovid

 

So Simple

So simple really, that
in the delicate unfolding
of an innocent bud,
all is revealed,
all is satisfied,
all can be known,
if your gaze is kind.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

39 Comments

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February 3, 2019 · 2:50 pm

The Nature Of Brown Mugs – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

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Photo: pixabay.com

 

The Nature Of Brown Mugs

I took my tea in a brown mug,
having decided against the blue,
the brown intimated something,
it’s the nature of brown,
speaking in more earthy ways,
with a mantle of wisdom to imbibe.
As I nursed the mug
nestled in my palms,
I listened to its
inaudible voice,
inviting me to a
more contemplative stance,
unhurried,
patiently waiting,
appreciating,
noticing,
feeling,
loving,
when I finally rose,
I stood differently in that place.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

30 Comments

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February 2, 2019 · 2:53 pm

Love Effort – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Effort – RDP Saturday

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Photo: pixabay.com

“If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”  Brene Brown

 

Love Effort

Life,
that gordian highway of
unsolved solved complexity,
riddles of red jumper blue,
this or not that,
and why now?
the platypus? really?
More weighty issues
like terminal days,
and moral decay,
that rupture my brain,
and press down, down.
The only way out
is your listening ear,
as I weave the words,
you disperse the onus
so effortlessly,
and I’m so light,
should I let go your hand
I’d float to the stars.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

Paul, pvcann.com

32 Comments

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February 1, 2019 · 4:30 pm

Wisdom So Rare – a poem by Paul Vincent Cannon

Learn – Word of the Day

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Photo: pixabay.com

“Do you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”      Charles Bukowski

 

 

Wisdom So Rare

At days end what did you receive,
what did you let go?
An examen of ebb and flow might help,
for life gives up a series unplanned,
memories touched by a word or a chord,
the sound of a voice to reminisce,
an exhaust that intrudes,
sunrise, sunset,
faces, tears and smiles,
all morsels of emotion to feast,
nothing rote learning can touch,
and though two times two equals four,
what feeling is that?
Or a library the envy of all?
Pages and jottings are bankable things,
even a conference or two,
but at the end of the day a little reflect
brings a wisdom so rare,
a discernment of movement or no,
be there pain and resist,
or perhaps joy and relief,
acceptance and gratitude redecorate inside,
and gently encourage release,
no mountains may move,
but a peace will exist,
as we learn to be just as is.

©Paul Vincent Cannon

 

Paul, pvcann.com

34 Comments

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