Thank you to poet Fredrick Zydek for allowing me to share his poetry today!
The Missing Moment
by Fredrick Zydek
It's that split second when you could have said
"no" but went along with the crowd; the chance
you had to step from the chaos into a sweeter
season but allowed fear to nudge you back into
the status quo. Dream tending is a difficult art.
They must take their terrible shape in the theatre
of the imagination, wait for the perfect moment,
then roar from the silence wearing a plethora
of logical explanations and all the primary colors.
These are moments that have a lot in common
with opportunity. Often they knock only once,
cast but a brief smile in our direction, then move
on. They are moments that make or break us.
They decide the shape our karma will take, fix
our moral compass, and determine who we will be
when the sun comes up the following morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Walking on Stones and Thorns
by by Fredrick Zydek
Wanting to reform the world without discovering
one’s true self is like trying to cover the world
with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones
and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.
— Ramana Maharashi
Some rocks are flat and smooth and as easy
to walk as well-placed stepping stones across
a country creek. Others, sharp as knives,
jagged and uneven, are as hard to navigate as
the relationship between the self and its strange
alliance with time. If only we could know things
without having to consider all the alternatives.
Sometimes I forget to think about who I am
because I get so lost in the music of everyday
speech, I don’t really hear what people are saying.
Besides, I have questions of my own: What does
believing in God mean? If Zen is mindfulness—
extracting the most from a given moment not
just in meditation but at all times—what are dreams
of the future and why do I entertain them even
while awake, trying to pilot myself from stone
to stone? If nothing on this planet is here for just
the food—what else are they doing here? I know
I’d be better off wearing shoes for the journey
but there is something to be said about going naked
through the world right down to one’s unclad toes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Missing Moment was published in Cicada and Walking on Stones and Thorns was featured in The New Hampshire Review
Books by Fredrick Zydek
Learning to Pray without Words by F.Z.
Thoroughly Married by F.Z.
Ed is our Poetry Friday host today.
Zydek is a new to me poet. Thanks so much for introducing this fabulous collection! What insight and grace.
ReplyDeleteTabatha, these poems mean so much to me today, when I am closing on my soon-to-be new home, with trepidation but also excitement that I am taking steps, and gladly without shoes, yet still it is not easy. My mother taught me that things are not always easy, yet we humans do cry out for easy, don't we? Thank you-I love your choices.
ReplyDeleteWhere do you find all these great poets?
ReplyDeleteBoth poems resonated with me, too. Yes, those moments of opportunity and decision or indecision, can make all the difference. Much to ponder here. Thank you!
....I know
ReplyDeleteI’d be better off wearing shoes for the journey
but there is something to be said about going naked
through the world right down to one’s unclad toes.
I just love these lines- the idea of being open and vulnerable as a way to experience more truthfully. It takes such courage to do this....but it's something worth striving for.
Hi, Tabatha. I just realized we need to reschedule lunch!
ReplyDeleteBoth poems feel very courageous to me. This line is one that I can see and feel: "I get so lost in the music of everyday /
speech, I don’t really hear what people are saying." I love that kind of getting lost.
I love "Thoroughly Married." What a wonderful poem!
ReplyDeleteF. Zydek is a new poet to me too. Thanks for the introduction. The Missing Moment taps into a desire to be authentic, and an angst that one won't be that I can identify with.
ReplyDeleteThis poet is new to me, too - thank you for sharing!
ReplyDelete"Dream tending is a difficult art." Love that.
And the notion that it's our responses in the sometimes swift, unpretentious moments that often define who we are.
I have to agree with what everyone just noted - you do find the most amazing poets, Tabatha. And I'm so glad I'm learning so much from you. I like poetry like this - more prose poetry with meandering thoughts that lead right back to one's heart. Gentle questioning, brief smiles, the notion of a moral compass, and one's character - lots to think about here. Beautiful.
ReplyDelete"Dream tending is a difficult art."
ReplyDeleteYes.
"Dream tending is a difficult art." Zydek does it well. Oh! Hey, Mary Lee pulled out the same line I did. Those truthful lines catch us all, I guess.
ReplyDelete