Happy Poetic New Year!

We kick off the new year here at the Low Density Lifestyle website with a poem by Vermont-based poet David Tucker, who has graced our pages before, the most recent time with his poem The River-Woman’s Daughter.

David’s new poem is called Longing, and in the above video, David does a reading of the poem. In true poet fashion, David adds a visual twist to his reading.

This is what David has to say about himself:
“I am a poet who lives in Vermont where I struggle to dig from the rock of mundanity formed by the details and disappointments of life the images that will startle us and remind us how we are connected to each other and to all the universe.”

Here is David’s poem:

Longing

Now,
as sure as Hades hears no joy,
new snow will fall into my path
and all the footprints
marked my way
will disappear
because I burned
the scripture written on my youth:
‘Love the money not the kiss’.
Watch.
You’ll see.
I now must wander
the pathless sky because
my longing for the breath of God
has welded
shut my purse
in which I carry
my old compass,
my pride,
my wish for the praise of women.
And, my mother says,
worst of all,
I do not care.
I toss it all
for just a taste,
just a tiny shiver
from the sweet breath
that lights the dawn!

I would do differently
if I could.
I would be responsible.
I would be ambitious.
I would be good.
I would be the poster child of mental health
if I could
but I can hear
death sniff the vacant seconds
of my past
looking for my life
to chew
and drag into the dark.

And
in the forest
of the hammer blows
of time
and age
and death,
certainty rises
pink like a new sun
over the ocean
of my soul:
no one moment
is wide enough
to acquire the light
that breaks the grasp of night
unless the voice of God
licks it
until
it become as wide as the sun.
Come, Lady
who turns the stars
and bakes the light
that tingles in the belly of my soul,
lick the darkness
out of every moment.

She
who has knocked me to my knees,
cut the tendons of my will
and tied me to her bed.
I would trade a million dollars
for her kiss.
Wouldn’t you?

Enjoy the poem – whether you watch it, read it, or both, and see you next time as we continue the series on the Masters of Enlightenment, as part of the series on Spirituality.

And don’t forget: The Low Density Lifestyle book is now out! You can check out an excerpt from the book, and buy it, at the Low Density Lifestyle bookstore.

The River-Woman’s Daughter

The series on The Roots of Healing has ended – the last article in the series was the three-part article on Wilhelm Reich.

I now turn towards a new subject, that of Spirituality. I’ll be exploring this subject over the next few weeks.

Connecting to the spiritual dimension is something that is important, and is a key element of living a Low Density Lifestyle. You’ll learn more about this as this series unfolds.

Today, as a kick-off to this series, we have a poem by the poet David Tucker. David last graced the Low Density Lifestyle website at the beginning of the year with the article Onto a New Year, which featured a series of David’s poems.

This is what David has to say about himself:
“I am a poet who lives in Vermont where I struggle to dig from the rock of mundanity formed by the details and disappointments of life the images that will startle us and remind us how we are connected to each other and to all the universe.”

Today, here is his poem, For Goldberry, the River-Woman’s Daughter.

For Goldberry, the River-Woman’s Daughter

I love God,
passionately.
I mean,
I make a real production of it.
I walk around the house,
shouting Her name,
His name.
I weep.
My heart
jumps up
on the fence hammered
from all my ecstasy
and crows
and crows
my adoration
to the sweet presence
making love
to every cell of my body.

And now,
to the middle
of my river of bliss,
you glide on your slim bark
signal flags proclaiming peace
and intelligence,
love and compassion
smelling of herbs,
earth
and the sun
stored in the leaves of Summer.

What will I do?
I am so vulnerable
to the Daughters of River Goddesses.
Even mortal women
have been able
to unbuckle the leather
strapped around my heart
and send me chasing
down the street
after my spilled emotions.

What,
in the sweet name of heaven
will happen with you?
This is not fair.
We speak together,
connect,
and a sacred song
from the mists off Withywindle
rattles the chimes
of my soul.
Within you
I see the One I adore.
I see the One
who stirs my heart
to leap upon the backs of stars
and ride
the dark and silver sky.

I think I’m had.
I think I’m stuck.
But,
even in my bondage
may I sing loud and sweet.
I may never be allowed
to kiss the dawn
into your heart,
but,
always,
always,
will I remember Who you are.
Remember Who lives within you,
Will, always
dance my prayers
to you
over miles
or years
or death
to brighten,
at least,
a little corner
of the garden
of the River-Woman’s Daughter.

Onto a New Year

Happy New Year! And may it be a Low Density Lifestyle year, all year long.

I want to start the year in a nice way. No, I won’t be talking about New Year’s resolutions. That you see written and talked about all over the place, so I won’t bore you with that kind of thing.

Instead, I want to start the year off right, in a Low Density Lifestyle kind of way. For this entire week, before I begin writing on a specific series, which I will do next week, I will feature poetry.

Life is Poetry – poetry can make us feel lighter of body, mind and spirit, and often can speak to our soul. It talks to us in ways that prose often cannot, in rhythms and cadences that can reverberate and resonate with our deepest longings.

It can also help us be more in touch with the innate low density nature we all carry within. It is this instinct that propels us forward in life; it is a natural drive we all have, one that desires happiness, love, joy and peace.

Unfortunately, it gets muddied up and lost. And it is poetry that can help us find it.

And so, each day of this week we’ll hear from a different poet.

Today’s poet is David Tucker. I’ll let David tell you about himself:

“I am a poet who lives in Vermont where I struggle to dig from the rock of mundanity formed by the details and disappointments of life the images that will startle us and remind us how we are connected to each other and to all the universe.”

Here are some poems of David’s, to help us ring in the New Year and put us in a Low Density Lifestyle frame of mind.

David’s email address is davidshawnee@mac.com.

To Learn How to Love

It is so beautiful,
this life,
the sun,
Vermont,
evening creeping in
over the Green Mountains.

It is light,
sweet,
so beautiful,
this life,
that we are given
that we might
learn how to love.

A simple lesson
I cannot catch.
A lovely butterfly
too light and quick.
For weeks now
I grab
and cannot hold
how beautiful,
how sweet,
how light
is this life
we learn
how to love.

As the Morning Glory
buckles into the night
I crumple into
fear,
anger,
darkness.
I think
I may die soon.
I think
How quickly it passes.
I think
What have I accomplished?
I think
It is not fair.
I have forgotten.
I came here
to learn how to love
and
in the evening light,
in the sweet approach of night,
I remember,
this minute
is enough,
to love
is what I came to learn.
It is enough.

Sabbath,
For Catherine

I woke this morning
paused
only a minute,
ate a tiny slice of peace,
sipped a thimble of light,
jumped up
and put on
my harness,
walked to the field,
head down,
up to the plow,
snapped on the line,
flexed my thighs
and prepared to pull.

Then stopped,
staring at the clods
and broken sod.
What, oh Creator
do you have planned
for me
today?
Pulling this plow
is my idea.

I looked up,
unsnapped the line
and
suddenly
the air was full
of butterflys,
cobalt blue wings
with
eyes as gold
as daffodils.
I broke up
the plow and made a drum.
We danced,
stepping and leaping
on the hard ground,
broke it into velvet loam.
Ready
to receive
the seed.

Meditation

You cannot trap

the sunshine

or

capture love

Maybe

for a minute

or a night

but

time

always shows up

cuts their chains

and

they escape

into the hills

Relax

stop pushing

let it go

let it all go

There is a trap door

in the top

of every second

Lift

Enter

The Gods will pour

cups of quiet

tap the drum of peace

fish diamonds from your soul

and

kiss the scales

off your eyes

till

you see

this is the only place

your enemy

time

cannot enter

to steal

your sunshine

and

your love.