Eyes Behind the Veil (new poem)

Eyes Behind the Veil
by Tim Kavi

In the eyes behind the veil
there is only the mystery of you
your soul dances
waits to be revealed

beholding You
your third eye darts
from face to face
we are falling to bliss

I cannot hold you
as I can barely and just now
see you, seek your kiss

I beseech you
wait for me
wait for me
so that my mortal love
may be caught
by your ongoing never ending
immortal love

for in you I am freed

and in your kiss
there is the longing
of the longtime lonely one
seeking her counterpart

the dancing free man
freed in your love
holding you
at last

we are both free
eternal flight
escapes this body's night

flying to where the soul
is not in a tent
and the face is not
behind a hidden wall

as the curtain is rent
I am in
the Holy of Holies
which is just you
and your arms

You
and your love

as the veil is cast off
and I see you
eye to eye

I am smelling your fragrance
it is natural
and like the wind
whispering your name

Shekinah
I utter as you move me
for I am colored
by your purple
clouds
pillars of smoke and fire

for your beauty is
unspeakable glory to glory
face to face
moved by your many arms
that embrace me from every place

singing rocks
cascading hills
stretch to the horizon
of greeting
tomorrow or yesterday
I look forward to
meeting

there is only You.

More About Goddesses: Parvati, Goddess of Love and Devotion (Essay)

Parvati, Goddess of Love and Devotion

by Tim Kavi

Also known as the daughter of the mountain, the goddess Parvati’s story might indeed be one of the most interesting of goddesses. She was born out of need as the gods need the assistance of the God Shiva. Shiva, however, had holed himself up in a mountain cave of the Himalayas, doing nothing but meditating and performing tapas to mourn the loss of his first love. His heat and energy grew and grew, and he became full of knowledge.

So the goddess Shakti went into his cave, some stories say appearing as a serpent and coiled herself around Shiva to draw out his energy and power so he would father a child, as the gods knew that only a child born of Shiva would be powerful enough to help them. Shakti than birthed herself into the goddess Parvati and her main goal was to win Shiva’s affections.

Even as a child she was deeply in love with him and went to his cave every day to sweep and decorate it with flowers. Shiva, however, never once noticed her, and could not be brought out of his mediations. So she invoked the help of Priti and Rati, who changed the cave into a thing of beauty, and then brought the lord of desire, Kama, to Shiva, but Shiva destroyed him by shooting flames from his third eye.

Having lost the lord of desire, the gods were hopeless of what to do with Shiva. Parvati then took off to go to the woods with nothing, not even clothing, to meditate and learn tapas, until her strength grew to that of Shiva’s and he took notice of her finally and took her as his wife, which also restored Kama back to life.

Other Tim Kavi Content About Parvati: Parvati is mentioned on my blog in at least two additional places. In my poem: Goddess of the Lake and another 'More About Goddesses' Column about Durga Mahadevi .  Enjoy! ~~TK

your beauty (new poem)

your beauty
by Tim Kavi

I saw you at the museum
in the ruins of Athens
at the park the other day
and I saw you in the flowers just opened

all around
I saw your beauty
it is like the dancing goddess of spring
that brings life

and like the harvest
reaping in Autumn
you know
what tomorrow your love will bring

all is new
renewed and covered in your Earth
again

great is your faithfulness
great is your love
my words are just markings of love
where I am a tool in your hands

tending to wherever your love grows
born things
are everywhere

stretched across the membranes of time
ready to burst
the underlying true Universe
is foreshadowed
and longs to be born

waiting for your spoken words of love
and everywhere uttering your Name
there is only the appearing
of all that is You
in love
in resurrection
in beauty.

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.

Tim Kavi's Latest Collection Published

My newest Poetry Collection was just published by TiLu Press.  Lost Love Poems is published first as a Kindle and Kindle Apps edition.  Other editions and formats will follow (including paper).

Description: Dedicated to anyone who has ever experienced lost or unreturned love, Lost Love Poems is an inspiring collection. By honoring lost loves as valuable loves in their own right, this collection can help you understand the power of love, view past loves as inspiration, and encourage you to open yourself to love again when you are ready. Lost Love Poems not only speaks to the sorrows and pains of loss, it also tells readers that if they have ever loved so deeply, they must possess a great capacity to love again.

The Amazon Link:  Click Here for Tim Kavi's Latest Book:

Thanks for supporting my work and vision.  ~~TK

Bridges of Home (New Poem)

bridges of home

by Tim Kavi

girders of strength

bring relief to the searching

absent loved ones

want to hurry home

familiar, looking closer

the beams are still strong

every lane leads home

peering closer

decay is evident everywhere

collapse is not imminent

just the wearings of age

home never looked so good

and I will take every bridge gladly

just to be back there

in your arms again

they carry me to all 

that I loved and once knew

to the known, the expected,

the life of everyday surprise.

Love of Ci'an (Reposted Poem with Poet's Comments)

poet's foreword: After my recent entries about the primarily Buddhist goddess, Kwan Yin (Quan Yin) it reminded me of this poem originally from 2005).`~~TK 

Love of Ci'an

by Tim Kavi

gentle breezes

flew from

Kunming's

frozen lake

I walked it

with my love

near Cixi's place

Then I heard

her gentle sighs

in the full light

of winter's surprise

where

in the hall of 

the Buddhas 

near a

Temple of Incense

your heart

was fully seen

in the ghostly sheen

mist of

winter morn

I heard

your whispers

to a future unborn

for in the

plans of Cixi

you were

overlooked 

love was but a dream

wafting

in the smoke

and carried

throughout

eternity

yet it

warmed

my cold hands

with the gloves

you bought

across

the Great Wall

flying

to the Deserts

of Dunhuang

as beautiful

as Guan Yin

the wind

that blew between

us and brought

me to your wings

to your lips

two countries

two hearts

that had

now evolved

to mix together

yet now lived

so far apart

found

each other

in that first

destiny's kiss

but was 

too soon departed

and in that mix

of winter's day

I heard the crying of Ci'an

broken hearted

scheming deceit

would bring the Emperor

at long last

a piteous son

so I walked

and you followed

down the steps

history there was undone.

Poet's Comments: .

Buddhist and Chinese themes: this poem mentions the Caves of Dunhuang (where sacred Buddhist cave drawings are near where the Goddess Guan Yin encountered the Monkey King). Guan Yin the Bodhisattva or Buddhist Goddess of Compassion is mentioned in the poem as well. The setting of the poem is in China at The Summer Palace in Beijing. Kunming Lake is there, and I did walk on the frozen lake in the Winter of 2005. Later that day, I also had the pleasure of touring the grounds of the Summer Palace, including the Long Corridor and at the very highest point, the Buddhist Temple of Incense. This was in part, a building with a very large Buddha in it and many other Buddhas lined the walls of that place.

The Summer Palace was one of the residences of the Emperor and Empress. As the Qing Dynasty ended in 1908, the last major empress to live there was Cixi who supplanted Ci'an. Cixi was a powerful empress, some would consider a despot and villain, others see her as very intelligent and highly political. Ci'an was the main consort of the Emperor until Cixi became the predominant one and bore the Emperor his only son. Where Ci'an was quiet, loyal, and an Empress known for meekness, Cixi was very much her opposite, skillful and manipulative, and ruling whatever she could with a conniving and mighty fist. Although an Empress was never allowed to make political suggestions, Cixi often did so from behind a curtain. Cixi became the main Empress, especially after the sudden death of Ci'an. Some believe that Ci'an was poisoned by Cixi because Ci'an had always been in excellent health until the day of her untimely death.

In this poem there is some encounter with a presence or ghostlike figure, such as Ci'an. Ci'an, who feels overlooked, is longing for love. Her spirit is felt by the foreigner who even comes from a distant land. Like incense, her symbolic nature as part of history spreads out over the Great Wall and then all the way to the Dunhuang caves (which is out along the Silk Road and near Mongolia) where she is like the goddess. As a counterpoint there is an outplaying of this tension between two cross cultural lovers as they are finding each other in love --shown in other verses of this poem. Obviously, some of the verses in the poem are between the two lovers themselves as they find themselves in this historical place, or perhaps, there is an encounter of a man with the ghost of Ci'an! ---- T.K.