By Mike Dannehy
Oh the hell of the world
This Samsara
In the Middle East
Oil gushes
Children die
Murder rampant
This media
This News
Is fed to me
Yes I must watch
I sit
Inflamed in thought
Broken hearted
Angry
Feeling
Helpless
Hopeless
A world away
My self, isolated
My self to blame
In Samsara
There come reactions
Blame
Righteousness
Anger, Hatred, Rage
Lines drawn
Weapons taken
Death follows
On it goes
I will sit with this
In meditation
Here
In the middle of nowhere
A world away
And feel compassion
For the tortured mother who saw her child beheaded
And feel compassion
For the tortured soul who beheaded a child
I will hold that compassion
Stoke it into a fire
In my heart
Compassion burns away
The broken hurt
The seeping anger
The self-full blame
NOW
My soul aflame
With kindled love
Peace in me humming
I simply ask
The cashier
How are you doing?
Look at them
Feel my heart blazing
And smile
A smile returned
Two hearts lifted
If only for a moment
This my simple offering
In this hell
Samsara
This outer world
In agony
This bleeding world receives
The deep compassion
Of that-which-forms
A heartfelt smile
Regardless