November 20, 2024

What forms do your addictions take?
I assume we are all addicted to something,
given the fact that our life consists
of obstructions and dead ends and barriers
on after another for as long as life lasts.

My father was addicted to nicotine and alcohol.
My mother, too.
I'm addicted to looking out the window,
writing and producing photographic images
by the boatload.
I also stop for books and nature.

Distractions, diversions, deflections abound.
Anything to take our minds off of 
our burdens and woes,
and provide a respite from the daily grind.

We can't keep going without regular departures
and interludes for breaks and recesses.

Enter emptiness, stillness and silence.
The oldest addiction there is,
and the most beneficial.

If only my father and mother had known that
from birth!
And, shared it with me!

It has taken most of my life for me
to stumble upon the wonders of emptiness, 
stillness and silence--
and the worlds they reveal, disclose, unveil!

Emptying ourselves of our fear
of facing the silence
reveals life at its finest
in the form of the Way
to realization and revelation,
and the secrets known only 
to those who have known through the ages,
and have looked forward to
being quiet some more again
all their lives long.