5 poems
from field recordings of mind in morning
if it is to greet the dawn
if that is what matters most
if it is a greeting of the light
if that awakening can be carried into the day
if it is as a lantern or candle held in the hand
if the eyes bear witness to the slow
unfolding the subtle caressing of first light
across the hillside & into the pasture
if often i am permitted to return to a meadow
if the light is the light of mind
& the lantern is the word itself first light & first word
quiet & present as the pasture itself
who sees it & walks here with three brown dogs
along the horizon rings the tone of sudden change
this is exactly what happens
as it so happens
9/15/19
Duncan Farm
if one stares back
what of that life
is there
not emotion but
sensation
recollected in
tranquility
when sensation is
precisely what has
disappeared
& tranquility
hardly the case
or these few words
eyes to mind to heart
yes yes let us
take it all to heart
9/15/19 (2)
Carrollton
as if this light
& what i make of it
were something true
three brown dogs
noses to the ground
we each take inward
a different world
telling ourselves what it is
until we no longer notice
our sudden puzzlement
dawn upon the flat pasture
& the tabletop display
of tightly wound hay bales
living as a way
to bale the miracle
of incarnation
turning with the earth
taking it all inward
to a point of final density
light returned to darkness
9/29/19
Carrollton
“However, now a mountain goat hangs by its horns in emptiness.” <634>
as unto calm
as unto death
as that which
you have been
called to know
near full moon
a walk at mid
night with the
youngest dog
a walk upon
the hillside
a walk among shadowy
shapes a walk
in time among
glistening figures
4/29/18
Carrollton
the hidden gem
is the light of
morning the hay
baler’s row of
yellow discs beside
the giant cedar tree
wild hibiscus
thriving beside the
illuminated farmhouse
gem hidden in
the dreams of the
sleeping woman a
place for shekinah to hide
gem hidden with
three brown dogs at
rest after running the
dew covered hillside at
dawn hidden in the
intricate nerves ligaments &
muscles of this illuminated
hand as its writing
opens up
into the light
6/16/18 Duncan Farm
for Joseph Lease
A Note: These poems are from field recordings of mind in morning, forthcoming from Talisman (2021). Quotations in the poems are from Dogen’s 13th century Shobo Genzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye). Carrollton, Alabama (pop. 990) & Duncan Farm (located 15 minutes outside of the town) are two names for the same place and are where the poems were written (or received), typically in early morning.
Hank Lazer’s field recordings of mind in morning is forthcoming from Talisman, his 33rd book of poetry, following upon Slowly Becoming Awake (2019), Poems That Look Just Like Poems (2019), and COVID19 SUTRAS (2020).