Tag: Spirituality

Song about Drowning

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

It’s nice when you’re high
to say hi
to the spirits of the forest and the valley
and the river and the sea

Implore your lungs to sing a wee
little ditty or a shanty or a song
but when you’re trapped in your hurt, you’re not free
and it’s tough to appreciate the beauty of the forest and the valley
or the river and the sea

Drowning in intricate mazes of thought
come now buddy, wake on up
these habits are leading you astray, and taking you
far from yourself, far away
far away from the peace you crave

Anger keeps you trapped, you’re stuck in the mud
stuck in your past, your heels dug in
do you want to meet the spirits wearing such a frown?
Or carrying so many grudges?

Ceremony and ritual,
herb and mushroom,
chemical and plant,
you’re looking for pathways
but do you want to meet them
with lead in your heart,
black stones for eyes,
and feeling so weighed down?

It’s nice when you’re free,
to say bye
to the demons of your dark cravings;
greed and envy, anger and control

Whichever Comes First

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

I was pleased to see the old school had been built over
a new housing estate in its place
somehow it soothes the pain
yet the memories still remain
and they will remain until claimed
by death or dementia
whichever comes first

There will be more Deaths to Come

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

I see the pain in you, that I felt before too             
it does get easier, you do become desensitised
eventually you must, or else you can’t play the game anymore

What you wouldn’t give to see that smiling face once more
or to hear their laugh again
sometimes the traces of their life and love are left in your dreams
you awaken to find them slowly receding as the day’s light chases your ghosts away

Responsible parents are those who buy their children some rodent
or other small mammal when they are young
to teach them life’s rules
and with tenderness as they cry over their pet’s lifeless corpse
you say ‘sweet child these are the rules, and there will be more deaths to come’
and they will understand that their eternal ‘I’ must change too one day

Contempt Leads One Way

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

Contempt leads one way
You can pause and observe
how these unchecked feelings can lead you astray

Jealousy and rage drag you further away
from the child you were, a wise one who knew
life’s purpose was in kindness and play

Growing impatient and cynical is easy
you wear away as a flower wilts, or a tree bends
from nature’s and time’s forces acting boldly

You are the bark chipped off an old Oak
with cruel cutting, scraping tools
contempt has left you exposed, no robe, no cloak

You may not like what see when you cast your gaze
upon a mirror, and you feel the serpent crawl inside of you
that bitter regret for allowing contempt to lead you and leave you in this maze

What’s the Opposite of Thanatophobia?

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

‘Belief in the afterlife is just a fairytale
for those afraid of death; of their own mortality’
this sounds like something that needs to be repeated
to convince oneself of its veracity

What of those afraid of life?
are they not comforted by the oft repeated mantra,
the materialists’ recruitment slogan; ‘there is nothing after death’
you can never be hurt again, you are safe and sound

You are safe from pain, and safe from having to make hard decisions
decisions that can break your heart and the hearts of others
infinite darkness sounds like the real fairytale
that in one violent instant or at the end of a steady decline
we could be free from all of the world’s suffering and all of our kind’s crimes

Could we all be let off so easily? Enough of this dreaming
Awaken even though it’s hard
Awaken even though it hurts
Awaken because it’s hard
Awaken because it hurts

Let the Old Ways Die, Son

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

Life is pain and suffering, in every breath
you take in the fundamental truth
every passing moment is a death
each transition transforming life

Our energy as narcissists drains us
as it gives us false power
drinking poison from the pool stains us
as we lose ourselves, lose real connections

Order disintegrates to chaos
Chaos recedes and order arises from it
Bitter sombre beauty lives in loss
In accepting death, I’ve let anger die, its pyre’s lit

High Expectation

~ Yanagi Studios

By A. O. Wallat

Rage be quiet. Rage be still,

The damage of a dreamer’s drill

Rage hath no ear but tongue of flame

Give it ear, give it name

It be stilled, once listened to

Its pain once heard, the same for you

Worse Things

~ Yanagi Studios

By Ernest M. Judd

The lifeless eyes of a dying lover

The screams of a mourning mother

The pangs of a lifetime of remorse

Not being able to follow your life’s true course

There are worse things than death

We fear our final journey

Scared to cross into the great beyond

To die is to enter eternal darkness they said

Society has had us all conned

Imagine living forever watching people you love die

Or imagine a world with each other where you never said goodbye

The world would have no meaning people would always discuss

Nothing to connect to the past, nothing to rival us

To live in endless torment is to be ripped apart

Imagine all the conscious beings with eternally broken hearts

When Death comes, we should welcome it as an old friend

Afterall, no matter who you are, you must come to journey’s end

A shamed man forever reviled

A mother burying her child

A person who has lost every ounce of hope

Someone who has witnessed destruction on a worldwide scope

There are worse things than death

Twins

~ Yanagi Studios

By Thomas Caterer

You’ll feel better when you look they say
Hands shake, knees about to buckle
You stare into the casket
Her face made-up, red lips, ghost white skin
She’s dressed for a wedding or a party
She sticks out where everyone’s dressed for a funeral

Her last words, ‘I can’t feel my leg’
The peritoneum flooded with blood
Like invaders rushing the city walls
A liver ripped in half
So violently, so casually

The twin thing, the special connection
Sensing her never again
Two sides of one coin, with one side scratched off
The tight knot in your stomach
The snake crawls along without a care
Inside of your skin
This is what emptiness feels like
Hands grip the coffin
Despite all the laughs and smiles that will hide it over the years
You know that some part of you will forever feel
Some small part of this endless emptiness
Always