Marriage With the Goddess (new poem)

Marriage With the Goddess (New Poem)
by Tim Kavi

across the veils of time and space,

in a still and sacred place,

I beheld your face—

the moon’s own grace.

when silence sang across the void,

and light and shadow intertwined,

our vows were written in the mind

of heaven, not destroyed.

what words suffice for such a flame?

when yin calls yang by secret name,

and breath to breath, our souls align—

a kiss becomes the grand design.

no thread of history could weave

the pattern fate had dared conceive;

yet in your lace, the cosmos stirred,

the stars themselves became our word.

no utterance was ever truer

than your love—

a river to my fire,

a whisper to my roar.

and still, eternal,

our union stands:

the goddess in my trembling hands,

the lover in my heart’s command—

one soul,

no matter what.

Sharing A 'Kup of Kavi': On the Philosophical Themes Associated With Tim Kavi's Writing (Guest Essay)

 

Sharing A 'Kup of Kavi': On the Philosophical Themes Associated With Tim Kavi's Writing

by Kelli M. Webert, MA.

Viewing the philosophical themes that appear to be inherent in Tim Kavi's work is to examine not only the themes and forms present in his work but also the ontological and epistemological concerns his poems, essays, and fiction seem to wrestle with. For my friend Kavi, is not merely a writer of verse or narrative—he is a seeker, mapping out the shifting borders between identity, desire, transcendence, and language itself.

Here are some of the philosophical themes I've noticed as a reader and editor of his work (and as a  former philosophy student):

Ontology of the Beloved

One of Kavi’s central preoccupations is the figure of the Beloved, often female, exalted, and radiant. But this is not merely a romantic construct—it is ontological. Like Plato’s theory of Forms, Kavi’s Beloved represents a higher essence. She is not just a person but principle: Beauty and Truth incarnate. Each poem directed toward her is a reaching—a nostos or homeward journey—to something more real than material experience.

"She is not merely woman, but a mirror to the infinite."

The Platonic longing for the Ideal permeates his voice, where each act of love becomes a philosophical invocation. The Beloved is both muse and metaphysical signifier.

Dialectic Between Self and Other; Dialogue Between Person and Person

Kavi frequently invokes a dialectical movement in his writing—a dynamic interchange between the self and the world, and a dialogical movement between “I” and “Thou.” In this, he echoes Martin Buber, whom he has written about. For Kavi, poetry is not monologue, but encounter. This mirrors Buber’s philosophy of the I-Thou relationship, where authentic existence arises through deep, unmediated relation with the Other and between persons through genuine dialogue and meeting.

In writing as in philosophy, Kavi asserts: to know oneself, one must risk encounter.

Transcendence and Becoming

There is a Heraclitean current in much of Kavi’s poetry: an embrace of becoming, motion, and change. He does not offer static truths but fluid insights that unfold in time. His poetic lines move like river currents—always suggesting that identity, love, and knowing are processes, not final states.

Kavi’s AI-inflected fictions pushes this further: what is the future of the human if consciousness can be shared, merged, or extended? Some of his writng is speculative, posing posthumanist questions about embodiment, sentience, and the soul.

Language as Liminal Space

To Kavi, language is both a bridge and veil. Like Derrida, he seems to recognize the aporia at the heart of expression—the moment where words reach and fail. His poetic voice leans into metaphor, not to obscure but to suggest that truth is more than literal. Poetry becomes a mystical act: a ritual of invocation, a beckoning toward the ineffable.

Other aspects of his writing speak to his early interests in the philosophy of language, meaning making, personal construct theory, cognitive constructivism, and General Semantics (Korzybski's 'the Map is Not the Territory'). The importance of language, word choices, and examining private self-statements and assertions also reveal his possible past as a cognitive therapist.

Ethical and Aesthetic Commitments

There is also an implicit ethics in his vision—rooted in reverence. Whether describing a woman, a moment, or a moonrise, Kavi writes as one who has seen the sacredness of things. As Buber says: the sacred is in the everyday. Kavi's work aligns with an aesthetic existentialism, like Camus but with more wonder and less despair. There is always hope in the resolution of a dialectic and the future selves that one is transcending into. And sometimes, it involves a mountainous journey up a sacred path, a Jungian unfolding of individuation — where one might encounter archetypes within oneself and society; an encounter with the Goddess, or even the Hero.

In conclusion: to read Tim Kavi is to not only not step into the same river twice, but to step into a poetic phenomenology, where each image, each gesture of language, reveals the inner textures of being. His writing is not philosophical in the academic sense—it is more akin to Rumi, Buber, or Simone Weil: a lived philosophy, radiant with sensitive caring, inquiry, and light. For Kavi is not merely a poet of feeling—he is a thinker of the soul.

AFTERWORD--TIM KAVI'S RESPONSE: Thank you so much for the kind words and sharing your discoveries of what my work means to you. I am humbled and honored. I do not feel worthy of such lofty words, but I thank you from my heart. As you know, I am shy about things like this. But I am glad you showed us an example of how people might find or create meaning. As you know, I am all for all persons and respect them so much and their journeys as they interact with other persons, even artistic expressions of the same,  and the Others in their world. So as always, I hope any of my readers will be so blessed as to uncover something in my work that helps them in their personal journeys and to discover the dialectics and dialogues that will help them in their own journeys, transcendence, and transformation. Namaste!~~TK

Of All The Times I Miss (new poem)

Of  All The Times I Miss (new poem)

by Tim Kavi 

Of all the times

I miss the most

were moments like this

when running from it

I was overtaken by destiny's kiss

For there was no stopping

the times I so nobly miss

of seeing the light

in my mother's eyes

one last time

of seeing a smile

on my father's lips

as I spoke a rhyme

they are all gone now

but more than memories

are the guiding paths

of meaning and existence

that we must make

by holding a newborn baby

in our arms

of speaking love

to family, to the undenying

Other that we allowed 

in our hearts to make a home

and to sing and hope

for better times

and what we could do

become in love

a certain history

of what we had hoped

of loves never forgot

and loves we make today

of things liked

and esteemed

and walking through

valleys of despair and grief

we find new futures

we have but dreamed.

afterward: to the world with love, there is a future beyond our losses

and grief. There is the sanctuary of hope and the power of love.~~TK

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.

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.

Meetings with the Promise of Any New Year (Day or Moment or Minute) (new poem)

Meetings with the Promise of Any New Year (Day or Moment or Minute)by Tim Kavi

across the distance/
things long ago forgot/
there is a meeting/
of what the future/
has brought/

lessons in time/
reflections of past/
truth in memories/
sufferings intense/
and joys unforgot/

there is/
hope in the New Year/
of what we planned/
for our futures/
in thought/

so speed forward/
never give up hope/
if you want change/
bring it and sing it/
your refrain has wrought/

across the widened gulf/
of meeting the other/
undisclosed surprise/
of the applied/
learnings you've got/.

Certain Orbs Lit by You (New Poem)

Certain Orbs Lit by You
by Tim Kavi

well there is nothing
known that is not already known
inside you

there is all the universe
in a flowery petal
or grain of sand

orbits of meaning
searching for celestial reason
revealing

known truths
certain revelations
curtains pulled back

in the eyes of the Other
in manifold states
of being

I only know
that You see something
too

and I long to hear
it in your quavering
singing voice

even as you grow
as old and young
as existence itself
I hear the singing
wisdom in all that you
express

for you are
the clouds of all meaning
drifting across the Uni verse

and your love
lights all the orbs.

From glory to Glory (New Poem)

"Lady of the Sea" artwork by Jonathon Earl Bowser

From glory to Glory

by Tim Kavi

there is only

the calling that is

that arises

as sure as any dawning

certain in the uncertainty

that any hope

of tomorrow always brings

the promise of an appearing

to live again!

a stream is ongoing

You cannot step into the same river

twice; Heraclitus said

well spoken

to remember; I am not the same

the river has a name

but it is not the same river

never give up hope

in the wading to a deeper place

in the swimming in a deeper love

in a kiss from galactic orbs

of being

enter the stream

cross the stream

bridge it in Divine love

walk on water in human love

the stream where the bowl

swirls backwards

showing proof of that which is

manifested

in the bridge

of person to person

to the waters of healing

to the tears that feed the stream

to the stream that becomes

a river of self acceptance

self love transcended then to Other love

the basic walk of toddlers

in a mature universe taught by love

until riding the waves

goes to the stream

babies to the river

we are baptized

so that love

teaches it 

becomes an ocean

where we never lose who we are

for who I am is a who WE are

swim on

walk to the side

make way for the journeying

break it up

turn again; find anew

when you come again to the banks

of existing

hope; a reflection in the water

Goddess we are seeing Saraswati

in the water

Shekinah glory

led from glory to glory

the Other side of your godly form

I no longer see my masculine face

washed in your water

I cannot stand in Your temple

I no longer see war and hate

it morphs again

and again

I look again my aged masculine face

renewed by your love

in your Youth I am cleansed

the stream is calling entry

the river is flowing

the ocean nearly overcomes

therein the waters of existence

Shekinah, I am brought 

guided again, to your dove like love

even to Your Goddess face.

The Burning Word (New Poem)

The Burning Word
by Tim Kavi

when in my innocence
I lingered at your feet
sought your face
that was covered still
at the shame you saw in the world

Oh, crying Mother
you weep for your children
I saw your tears drop to the Earth
it waters the dry lands of many
men's hearts

while their weapons of war
they make
they know not you wait
for their turning to a better way
but will it come in time?

Your tears fall
and I know you long to gather them
but they will not

Crying in the wilderness
my tears run after yours
I am but a man who needs
your love's redemption
to tell his true story
is to utter the burning word

I want to lift my voice
and yell
at the outrage of your tears
I want to say O Mother
fill my mouth
with your words
may they cut down this hell

I want to stay here
and just be held from you
but you are telling me
no, calling me
gently prodding me
to tell all that live
in this special place

to turn to the Other
the transcendent
the Divine You
and to know the ways

the ways of love
the paths of certain forgiveness
and the joys of communion

and I must go back
from the mountain of meeting
with you

and learn
for You are written
on every compassionate woman's face
who walks in grace
who is also redeemed by your
very Nature

in all the villages
and hamlets
in all the slums
in all the towns
and the urban pathos
of sought for meaning
in the stinking greed
and corruption
that takes from the poor
their sustainance

your waiting Arms reach for!

may we listen to you
walk with each other
and love and be loved
before it is too late.

History (New Poem)

History
by Tim Kavi

oceans of blue green
Quantum waves collapsed
Schrodinger's cat died in the box
harbingers of doubt
in the flavored purpose

black and brown
are the eyes of You
lips full and parted
gentle breaths resting
escape the sleeping You

In the face of marching
defiant of time
empires go to sand
while we have kisses in the dark
sweet love's embrace
are our telling of secrets
all over the place

Finally, no more hidden hearts
all is known, uncovered and true
Revealed Goddess
patriarchy is doomed
with You fully in view

no reason for mystery
this is the neverending recurring tale
simple and complex
the untwisting dialectic of reason
because You are history.

Called Out (To Be a Friend) (New Poem)

Called Out (To Be a Friend)
by Tim Kavi

you are the breeze to my thirsty spirit,
my soul in a time of chaos and world mistrust,
my center in atrophy
You quiet my storms at night.

in the soul of friendship
I say Thou to you
and in the liberating dancing spirit of love
I dance with you on the clouds of love.

together we paint pictures of love
sing songs of freedom's acceptance
Yes, for we accept each other as who we truly are.

In the loving arms of two souls
that call each other deepest friends
there is both a seeking
for each other's face again
and a finding in the joyful reunions
of touching each other's lives

and in that bond
there is the bond of spirit to spirit
I am called to love
I am called out to utter abandon
even on the narrow ridge.

with you

there is the call to dialogue
and the inescapable joyful capacity to love
there is only the acceptance
of whoever You are.

Longing For You (New Poem)

Longing For You
by Tim Kavi

In my longing for you
I hear my own sighs
my woeful realization
reflected in those
sad green eyes

In my longing for you
I think I'm ill fated
arrived too late to know
Found I'm out dated

In my longing for you
I thought I'm going places
so lost and alone
in a sea of Asian faces

they all look at me

Can't you see
I'm the only one here
so suffering
let me be

In my longing for you
there is no saving
In my hungry heart
only a craving

for a love to be found

so I am turning
to the sacred ground
of meeting
and I am burning

but I cannot see you
behind the tears
of green eyes

in the distance
sleepless night
I think I see
the discovery of my sight

green eyes
full of light

you are approaching
in meeting

cosmic You.

Tim Kavi's Poetry Collection 'Emerging Goddess' is Now Available.

Announcing the publication of My Poetry Collection 'Emerging Goddess'. Get yours today!

A poetry collection by mystic philosopher Tim Kavi that celebrates the Sacred Feminine, Goddesses from mythologies past and present, and emerging goddesses everywhere. These are sacred love poems that celebrate spiritual and temporal planes of love and devotion.

presence (reposted poem) to all my friends: new and old

presence (a repost) 
(to all my friends, new and old, especially the new ones)
by Tim Kavi

dancing beings
find each other
across many
lifetimes again
and again

why do they
find each other
sharpen each other
recoqnize each other
at such a time as then?

some flee again
as in great flight
some struggle
potential clashes
in a great fight

others turn softly
yet in might
urgency

heart to heart
there is a turning
a yearning
to know all
about the One

that you see
for the first time
there is a calling
to know

a setting sun
in the glance
of smiles
as the night
of mystery is begun

revealing
each other
taught by experience
what this life
might be

but when
the seeking ones
find each other
there is a shining oneness

that lights
the unconscious
night
shadows play
until real is seen

and at last
in dialogical meeting
a You is glimpsed


a Holy Presence
You are the
chrysalis emerged

in the glistening
mutual love
of You and me.