
Back Principles (1) : you have my back
You have my back,
will teach me
buddhist principles
for non-fretting
If you have my
back, nothing
to fret
about
(non?)
But seriously,
even backs
have a learn
ing curve
—none has
been bent to
break point
till now
You can heal it …?
I am astonished
—& begin
to believe you
( …yes)
Back Principles (14) : Keats & Rilke coming up again (& damned Spicer, too)
Who sees into me
… has mine heart?
Too easily tossed
(on a heap, on
a mound)
This inning is
future time
(grace time …?)
I would take
a pitcher
of you
Drink it, bat it
out of here
—whatever
it takes
I lose myself
completely, am
struck dumb
in your
buddha
love
Where is my
ground, where
is my Heysus
spinning to
now
This (heady) gain
is nerve loss
(also)
It is mystery
one enters
−−terrified
(& possibly
alive …)
Witless &
spooked,
& unafraid
to say so
(god help
me)
Look in mine
eyes & give
me your
strength,
I have none
that doesn’t
shake the bases
loose in the
night
Look in mine
eyes, I have
forgotten how
to see
Back Principles (19) : sapien & cowardly heart
Been through the agoraphobic’s
desert, Yuma at 117 degrees
Life in the furnace under
a terrifying open sky
(no place to burrow)
You say I need to en-
dure the sweat-lodge,
sleep with snakes
& scorpions
at my side
(every fear alive)
Live a full week
w/ the Terrors
(find the buddha …
or the christ
magnified?)
You say …
you say …
And in you I
surely trust
(god help
me …)
True soul
touch me,
ease me
(somewhat …)
Horror wherein lurks
the desert of my
sapien &
cowardly
heart
Back Principles (34) : spiritual fatigue
This is surely
spiritual fatigue
(on the loose)
(at loose ends)
Backed into a corner
(loosely speaking)
Back me, back
me not …
My back is knotted
Lies bound in a
locked drawer
When it creaks open
pray for something
merciful
Pray there is
something
there
You will not
have my back
beyond this
point
It will be loose
at ease, or it
will be
broken
Back Principles (39) : pockets empty
Yes, we have each
other’s back
… till death
do us part
I have no other
“principles”
left
Back left & back
right pockets
sitting on
empty
Back Principles (52) : agoraphobi
Big spaces are
made of this
Phoenix to Yuma
—terrifying
The christ to
the buddha …
terrifying too
Hold my back (pls)
the landscape
would break
it in halves
Agoraphobic,
big space
Holding emptiness
in my hands
Back Principles (58) : more than life itself
Your breath like some
kind of long
remembered
wind on his
face
Shake him closer
than ever
The christ love
& buddha love
are one
Get him there
You say to him
I love you more
than life itself
It is miracle
enough
The Divine lives
here, call it
what you will
Though we are in-
credibly small
the path just
got shorter
by two
breaths
Ron says
Absolutely loved Back Principles (14)… the title itself was a poem! Tossing Jack Spicer into the Rilke and Keats… Genius.