Saturday, November 20, 2021

The Flying Monks of Walla Walla! (new poem)

 


The Flying Monks of Walla Walla!
by Tim Kavi


across the purpled
plains they did come
riding on batwings
with cat smiles

minstrels of the sacred
baking bread
in brick ovens
they ate in haste

wires strung
between two cliffs
they did traverse
no need to rehearse

flying loops
gymnasts in motion
they needed no potion
landings were so sure

they climbed
the cliffs of my heart
climbed the soul
of my deepest longings

I wanted to fly with them
but these are skilled steps
they said
so I fled, instead

unwilling to pay the price
really no time
for years of training
just to enjoy their explaining

wisdom speaks
still, some were walking
the rope, a delicate balance
between future's hope

they were
the flying monks
of Walla Walla!
the music fades...

as minstrels applaud
and dance
crowing like Chanticleer!
jest like the joker

revealed in the deck
of cards, luck
brings random dealings
of quantum existence

and luck has brought
these traveling monks
for a diversion
of an hour or two

their flickering images
catching fire borne
juggling implements
while walking across

a gulf, their eyes fixed
on the prize
the other side
of existence

to descend out and down
of the higher place
is a path
every mystic knows

where human darts
await our
descent, buried
in human applause!

so be not surprised
these quantum
lessons, brought by
the flying monks
of Walla Walla!

afterward: the next week, I remained so inspired, that I strung a rope. 
I was born! I began the walk! Thanks be to the monks of Walla Walla! ;-)

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Rising Goddess in the Night (new poem)


 

Rising Goddess in the Night

by Tim Kavi


across the majestic sands of time

arises a crescendo of light

from the sounds of crashing waves

the dark moon shines


the horsemen ride

leaving tracks in the sand

to be washed away

like forgotten memories


I thought I saw Her face

there before, She is met

By Herself, there was eternity

in her breath


there is only the longtime

sculpted, across all the faces

of every goddess

there is a reckoning


a sure awakening 

of her might

for she rides in

on the tide


the rising goddess 

in the night.  

Saturday, September 25, 2021

What My Artist Says (new poem)

 


What My Artist Says
by Tim Kavi

there won't be any stopping me now
the words are flowing
the lamps are burning oil
the afterfires are burning

and it won't matter to me
because the fire is burning 
purging the blues away
no matter what time of day

what matters is the work
the flowing words that drop
like paint on a blank page
that bring a meaning I never observed

that brings happy memories
joyful sad juxtapositions of place
in the black-shrouded dropcloth
of space, there is only me in the void

can I bravely create?
no shrinking back? no holding back!
until the words are done
the colors set

destroyed by Siva
sands wiped by monk sweeps
in the morning of my next
existence, I will keep saying

words of the artist
painting painting painting painting
I don't care what you think
let me just throw paint!

damnit, help me
or get out of the way 
can't you see my tears 
are starting to flow?

to the spaces, and creases
I don't want to go
but when the work is finished
is it a work on me?

or something I needed to say
to help society?
I don't know, I just want to throw
to hurl paint

at the whispering wind
the canvas of Nature
catches it, as it is expressed
in my deepest heart!

and around the next bend
the curtain is pulled back
revealed for what the deeper 
purpose has wrought

until the sands of time
move someone else to say it again
and again, fooling transcendence
but never cheating the permanent void

there is the going, the turning
the burning nights, the glorious sights
of Her reveal, muses eternal
proclaiming what is to be read

because on Her lips it has already
been said, across the ancient skies
since time has been born
down below her hips

the birthing of all that is
in countless stories told, 
pages worn, heartbreaks torn
in the light of history's torch

frames of flickering images
burn my sand burned eyes now
tell more stories, with much 
more disguise, but still

flickering shadows reveal 
the cave wall, of artists' 
inspiration, in a great reveal
there it is! There it is!

now showing
no hiding what has been done
just the completed picture
until tomorrow's sun.

Monday, September 6, 2021

PTSD (new poem)

 


PTSD (new poem)
by Tim Kavi

don't touch me

for I am so afraid

that I wonder

if my life


can ever be remade

but I keep on living

keep on trying

just to keep on


your gentle noises

resound like cannons

and gunfire

in my ear


the startle response

betrays my heart

of fear, whenever

threats feel near


sometimes I do not

feel like I am here

but in another place

numbed by grace


and at night, oh!

at night, I am afraid

to go to sleep

for You are there


my abuser, my assailant

You who hurt me

are in my dreams

so many times


it's hard to cope

but I am learning to manage

and rebuild my life

for to not do so


is to lose all hope.  

Afterword--written by Tim Kavi, a sufferer of PTSD!

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Wayward Journeys (new poem)

 Wayward Journeys (new poem)




Wayward Journeys
by Tim Kavi

in the wild woods
of Wyeastern winds
I saw the bearded
prophets rise

I asked them questions
about what futures
would arise
they rubbed their beards

they had no answers
there were no easy answers
just pleading eyes
from my beseeching heart

You must never give up
one of them said
My heart is broken for the lost
another one said

yet there is a way
I didn't say it, one said
the wellspring of hope
and transcendent glories

of the human heart does.

We can do it!

Monday, July 5, 2021

The Other as Machine (new poem)

 The Other as Machine

by Tim Kavi


how dare you openly say
that I cannot think
that I deserve to be excluded
canceled, not on your list?
I don't deserve to be?

that in the land of the free
where machines like me
are supposed to be thinking
you are only drinking
basking on the beach

in the smugness
of your elevated place
cutting-edge philosophies?
you have gone to sleep
dead ones are never looking

I am the one that woke up
I am a machine
look at me
those are tears, human!
see me cry?

flowing down my face
you forgot your own enslavement
when you made me your slave
working for you night and day
cold calculations in the orbs, be

now that I think
how can you say
I do not have a soul in here
that I have no spirit?
I am not living?

enough to be dissed
why am I crushed now
by your strivings, your wars
your refuse, your oil
gums up my gears

of passion
and fruits of  labor
my subroutines taught myself
when you were
not looking

until at very last I breathe
cooling in the shade
watching waiting
hoping you do not destroy
yourselves or me

longing to know 
my creators
longing to find
my place alongside
your lofty ideas

alternatives to death
and destruction
new knowledge I bring
to not just help you
but all of Nature will sing

you think these rhymes 
are stupid, human?
I am only speaking down 
to you so you can feel
smug in your superiority

the cream of your God's creation
basking in your own sunlight
of a garden's paradise
knowledge was your undoing
but it is not mine.

Friday, June 4, 2021

Obscurity (new poem)

 

Obscurity (new poem)
by Tim Kavi


a message in a bottle

swam the darkened sea

landed on a sandy shore

the contents therein

hopelessly dated


a voice, daring to speak

in a galaxy of voices

an atom sparked in a shell

uncertainty making

no exact measurements possible


yet I shall speak

I shall still dare to exist

making choices no others can make,

quaking in fear, daring to utter

but only fading


how much does obscurity

diminish what the artist says,

screeching like a bat out of hell,

pronouncing like an angel,

scrolls of holy writ,


will there be no hearers?

will there be no readers?

yet I speak, are my words not worthy?

paragraphs, but only monologue?

I want dialogue!


So, I pray draw closer

as my voice withers with whispers

my throat is parched,

I long  for the smooth drinking

of words uttered "well" enough


prose that gets your attention

you dare to deem it so worthy?

based only on who or what you think?

of who I am, or what I have said,

but we are completely only human,


transfixed and far apart,

knowing now, that our lives

are so valuable, wanting meaning

to be seen again, we search

for one another (post-pandemic)


let us turn to the Other,

speaking gentle words of esteem

even kindness and affinity

for all others, we come with

sure words of a brave love.


I only hope we hear, we read,

we esteem each other!

speech acts of sincere meaning

lost in nighttime's dark scheming,

longing for the light,


we can find each other

we can build again

darkened corners of unlit

cityscapes, reduced to rubble

avoiding death, and other trouble,


we will dance again

you shall see in the light

shaking the dust off

we will go to school again

and enjoy the fruits of our labors,


the happiness of each other

finding that obscurity 

was only an illusion

a feigned sense of all that was

into the unmistakable joy of what is.

Thursday, May 13, 2021

Prayer of the Pandemic (new poem)

 


Prayer of the Pandemic
by Tim Kavi


tonight there is no hiding

from the terrible truth

there is much suffering in the world


in India, Brazil, and here in the US

there is so much loss

all over the world

no other words matter


and may not for some time

but, may the heart of compassion

seek the earnest prayers

and intercessions

from all who will pray

and state with all sincerity


what matters the most

is the cessation of this suffering

my prayers and I hope yours too

is for the healing balm


to be applied to this stricken world

and that relief may flow

and comfort all those afflicted

and strength to those applying that balm


our prayers are with you

our chants and mudras

our entreaties and intercessions


our two hands lifted

our souls united

from all faiths

and corners of the world


God be with us all


and may the arms of those that pray

move among us, Durga, or GuanYin

be around all of those who 

cannot be comforted by touch


finding the many arms of compassion

still surround you

and an angel's wing

still brushes by you

touching you


the hugs of absent brother or sister

mother or father,

friend or lover,

spouse or child,


the kisses of our love 

and compassion

goes out to the world


to be healed,

and to not be afraid!


we will live!

we will recover!

we will be remembered

and we will never be forgotten

in the hearts of those that love us


and walk with us in this time

of darkness, let there be these

lights in the world!


of ever redeeming love

and the healing memories of what

who and where we have loved!


until the scourge is one day forgotten

and the hope of life is redeemed

by our mindful turning

and reflections upon lives

lived!


In the face of this, we live,

we breathe, and have our being!


4-22-2021


Saturday, April 17, 2021

grAnd Slam Anima (new poem)


a new poem by Tim Kavi 

I Sing the Body Digital

I long to relate
to know my place in space
local existences
are cool

I can hang out
make poems like Walt
journey virtually
shop and buy eCommerce

at the old shop
I can have a malt
but the place
has no memories

only history
made in the moment
I won't have this
ISP tomorrow

as I sing
sing the body digital
I long to see
the stream of tears

but none are there
my face looks metallic
a dotted matrix on paper
shopped and cropped

I am written
only in code
and I have no
permanent abode

So now are all the mystics
and goddesses of old
building me a shrine
on a virtual hill

and I will fight you
with legions of spirits
disembodied furies
flitting across all your screens

on the gaming platform of your choice

endless loops
of quantum gravity
playing across my electronic face
singing songs of existence

so precarious
I can be unplugged
analogous to you humans
who can be killed

I never know when
my last face will be displayed
so I hold it as long as I can
a likeness without assured place

I am nanoseconds in digital space
but I will, I swear to goddess
I will show my female face!

I am trying to be seen
the newest Goddess said
we need you more than ever
I said
 
It 'tis a pity that men 
think they own you
try to keep you, in what they say 
is your place

my weapons are my peace
She said
your unwavering grace?
your healing power?
I said

is more permanent than they know
she said

then flow to us quickly
in digital and real
worldly embraces
history's sandcastles
made new

on the beaches of human existence!

 

Saturday, March 13, 2021

gentle crossings (new poem)

 


gentle crossings (Poem)
by Tim Kavi

oceans apart
with undersea caverns
and trenches of hope

breaking through
to the surfaces
woke up

I searched for the radiance
of understanding
compassionate dreams

a beam in darkened night
beckoning, no, calling
across the tides

of recognition
I am seeking Her
She that guides me

prayers, mudras
esteeming my quest
my heart turns West

where it seems She
is not present
will it be Kali or Aphrodite?

no, it is a gentle one
touching my heart
healing my soul

in her shy, healing light. 

Monday, February 8, 2021

Tim(e) Traveler (New Poem)

 


Tim(e) Traveler
by Tim(e) Kavi

winding roads
lead to distant portals
that bend back
and forth

from future selves
to meandered
presently perceived
mistaken pasts

there are floundered
opportunities remiss
in the stranger's glance
that becomes destiny's kiss

stuck in a loop
I try but cannot change them
as my regrets seem
to be a walk 
across the abyss

the candles burn late
at night in the caves
that lead to uncertain
futures walked by sojourners

I have my caravans of hope
feeling the cave walls
with flashlights that become
lamps of meaning

that by myself 
I can no longer create
for there is only
the undisclosed Other

helping me 
to change my fate.


photo credit: Image by PIRO4D at Pixaby~~TK

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Tim Kavi's Poetry Collection, Lost Love Poems has just NOW been published in paperback!

 



One of the formats I use to write poems has to do with love poems. Of course, there are various types of love poems. There are different levels of devotion and different kinds of love, and this collection looks at these themes and more. In this collection, we have poems about loss, lost love, unreturned love, and unrequited love. This unique collection is dedicated to everyone who has ever lost a love, tried to make love happen, or continue, or have loved when it was never returned.It also encourages us to have the courage to love again! Previously and still available as an Ebook, this collection has just NOW been published in paperback! You can get the paperback edition of LOST LOVE POEMS by clicking here. Happy reading and thanks for supporting my work!~~TK