Acting: a short poem, with an explanation of poetic approach

 

Acting

With strings to the past

Like a marionette

Tethered to a memorial beast.

Never ceasing,

The drooling monster

Continues pulling strings.

Limbs acquiescing

To the Mindless impulses

Of this cognitive machine.

The cool orange

Hint of daylight

Emerges upwards

Above the rolling hills

Through the narrow slit

In the blanket of clouds.

The day is beginning.

A new day

Where Act will flower

With every pulse

And every breath

Of pure life

And endless bliss.

MS22

*Just a note on my poetic approach for those who are interested:

There are different ways of using poetry. I use poetry as another means to convey a deeper metaphysical message. What do I mean when I say metaphysical? There is a division between philosophy based on the validation of theories and conclusions which are more concerned with winning the argument than at arriving at the one truth, and there is philosophy which is for the purpose of revelation and ascension. It is the latter with which I am interested. What drives my poems is an inspiration, a flame which works through the cognitive faculty to produce something which contains that flame. Without this, I don't write poetry. It is a prerequisite. I think this inspiration or flame is emerging from the heart field, associated with the heart shakra; and I consider metaphysics to be concerned with the conscious ordering of the "non-moving" activity Known from this field.

Craft and Gravity: a poem

 

Material curvature,

Molded by hands,

The heart flows

Through the fingers

Infusing the material

With pulsing life.

Take a seat,

Feel the armrest,

The bend, the give,

The chair receives

Your weight—

Gravity connects all

Physically and divinely,

The earthly, nay, cosmic reminder

Of renewable life

And constant flux.

MS22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View sculptures at mikesasakiwoodforms.etsy.com

Arch No.33 (description with poem)

 

 

The 33rd of the Arch series takes the bifurcated form for the second time, but in yellow cedar (the first, Arch No.32, was in red cedar) which exhibits a subdued natural grain. The sculpture thus preserves its light cream colour, a very pure and calming hue which invites attention quietly. The incipient emergence of two forms from the single and whole form not only symbolizes the ultimate unity of the dyad, but also raises geometric questions of relationship and meaning therein. As, the sense of the form varies drastically depending on the angle of view (appears to have two distinct components from the front, yet its unity is clearly betrayed (visible) from the side views as the shallow concave system is revealed), the form thus encourages the viewer to explore and discover.

The continuous yet divided
Merges yet separates,
Envelops yet is contained,
Connects yet remains alone,
And acts yet acts not
For it exists simply
As an illusion.

MS22

 

Arch No.33 - 2022

 

Morning Trees

Morning Trees

The monochrome silhouettes

Of the trees stood still

Yet alive against the soft

Brightening dawn sky—

The crows alighting atop

Sent gentle pulses

Along the long, stiff

Branches,

The leaves shuttering

In acquiescence.

The horizon behind

Was a hazy peach hue

Fading up to a

Cool white luminescence—

As the dawning of the sun

Approached, the whole

Town brightened

With lively anticipation.

MS22

 

Duality No.3

Quiet Morning Questions

 

Quiet Morning Questions (inspired by the beauty of the rising red sun through the smoky horizon)

Reflecting back on the dualistic nature of our psyche, the simple character of our thought patterns, brings great clarity and serenity. Questioning the structure of thinking, agreeing or disagreeing, deciding, hoping, expecting, celebrating success or feeling the pain of failure, trying to stay motivated, and using reward or punishment tactics on oneself—are all the workings of the dualistic mind. What a drama. Yet we need not push this all away for there is beauty in it just as there is beauty in every single motion, compound (which we may call objects or creatures), idea, scene, and ultimately insight. Insights are the juice of truth. They emerge with purifying energy, instantly dissolving related confusion. Are insights dual? Or are insights of what the yogis call a single-pointed mind?

 

Arch No.1

Thoughts on Violence and Love

There is cold violence

And cold eyes

Staring blindly into a world of illusion

A self-created world tainted by vengeance

And wrath,

And there is such precise action,

Such power, such cunning control;

Vast crowds believe

The one-sided words,

The rotting stories and promises

Of cleansing action

Which indeed cleanse not

But only perpetuate

This cycle of misery and pride.

All are innocent

Like small children,

Acting in reaction

To a disturbance,

Protecting themselves

The only way they know how.

Except, now, these impulses

Are disguised in fancy words

Designed to impress

And persuade a gullible group.

Engaging not

In these stories

Fuelled by pain

We stand and smile—

We will stand in peace,

In peaceful strength

Fuelled by wisdom,

Not hate, not anger,

Not in reaction,

But in a different world,

A world in Love.

The angry man

Strikes with a fist

And gets nothing

But air—

Untouchable is Love,

So foreign from anger,

So pure and clean,

So vast and timeless—

Faith is knowing

That Love is the Ground.

Love cannot be harmed

By thought-driven acts,

By physical motion—

Anger requires a story

Which fuels its fire,

Love has no time,

No memory,

No past, present, future,

But is timeless Life,

Shining Life.

Faith is knowing

That Love discriminates not,

But permeates all

And everyone—

If blindness will awaken

To light,

The light must shine brighter,

Blindingly bright,

Like the sun,

But not with fire,

But with Love.

The fire of Love.

MS22

 

 

Duality No.3

An Early Autumn Morning Question

 

A quiet question this morning (Sept 30, 2022):

How does one arrive upon the extraordinary initiation into the significance of holistic inquiry? Must there be a gap in the thought process, a quiet mind so to speak? Is the thought-based mode of reality hijacking the underlying current of motionless truth and being? There is the beauty of a sunset. This is easy. But is there also beauty in the basic act of life? Is there a beauty which underlies both the orderly and disorderly? There is pain, either inside or outside, and there is compassion which is not pity. Because pity implies comparison, whereas compassion is whole. Then under this compassion is Love. This love has no beginning and end, but is a field so to speak. Is this Love endless beauty?, quiet attention?, simple being?

Thank you for reading. This is my passion: inquiry into truth, beauty and liberation. I know there is a field of pure bliss and light united without the barrier of inside and outside. I know that public education is basically mistaken in the focus on ranking and competition. I know international affairs is basically an extension of immature, self-centered activity and will never lead to peace unless swallowed in Love through some miraculous insight on a mass scale. And when one acknowledges such facts, there must inevitably be an inquiry into the field of goodness which we rob ourselves of when we are distracted by competition. So, this is the fuel behind my work. When I come upon the quiet, peaceful flame of beauty, Love and inspiration, my hand and mind is then informed by that which has real value, Art and beauty. And this must be true for everyone in their work because Art is not limited to fine arts, visual arts, performing arts, etc., but extends into all of Life. (Check Coomaraswamy's writings on Art) There is a cosmic intelligence, and this underlies the egoic mind. 

 

Stopping to breathe

The crisp morning air,

The fire of the mind

Is doused with a pail.

Silence prevails,

Both outside and in,

Then the shrill cry of the gull

Courses through the damp air,

And this immanent sound,

Again reminds one of the whole,

Timeless, Act of Life.

MS22

 

Arch No.5 - 2017