Most of our waking hours is filled with thinking rather than the simple presence of a present moment. Past and future drift across our minds, attachments, regrets, hopes and fear eddy round the pivot of our self-concern. The heart becomes involved creating emotions that may be joyous or painful, sometimes filled with animosity towards another who supposedly has hurt us, sometimes joyful in a happy memory. Sometimes a phrase comes up that seems to encapsulate such an experience in a way that recalls it vividly and such a phrase can gain momentum slowly turning into a poem that seeks transcendence – not some metaphysical transcendence but rather an evocation of the essence of a feeling caught momentarily while flying past on the wind. Such poems are more wordy than the haiku-like evocations of a moment in itself because they are narrative; they seek to give a heart message that involves the mind in its wording, much as a composer works on his music.
Here are a few that have emerged over the years.