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Another North
The Megalopolis just north of here
Rumbles and heaves and slumbers not at all,
Though I at evening am not so near
To be afflicted by its charmless call.
Cicadas’ speech spreads over me this night
When I step out from house to darkening grass
To find above me still a murk of light,
As if the finished day will not quite pass.
No stars. Though sky is clear, the city’s glare
Has deadened all, made null the healing dark.
Disturbed, I turn about, I squint and stare
To seek in space at least one living spark.
Can they be lost, dead lost, the points that shine
From youth till now, that gladden and amaze,
Forgotten in this twilight anodyne?
I cannot think it; urgently I gaze.
Now whether by raw force my vision clears
Or unknown change above has taken place,
Dimly up near the zenith there appears
One speck that flickers in that listless space.
Then others glimmer and beyond are more,
The barest semblance of a brilliance past,
In dull infinity a meager score,
A net of motes upon the evening cast.
And shall the deep magnificence of night
Not come back in this worn and baffled time?
May not grand heaven with signals all alight
Quicken the lowly with the will to climb?
Then must I read such failing stars as these
And take them as the pointers to a pole,
Another north unseen above the trees,
Where light and work may show me to my goal.
So to that north, if just in thought, I fly,
Past Megalopolis and all its glare,
To face both bright and dark, both low and high,
To make out contrast in a tranquil air.
Impoverished evening lags on, and yet,
Standing in grass, I know the grass smells sweet.
I must go on with faith and purpose set,
With life to study and with death to meet.
Let ill and virtue stand distinct for me,
Let night and day bring each its clarity,
So in the sun I may walk modestly,
And in the darkness I may learn to see.
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Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano is a native of Kentucky who for many years has been a bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk of the Theravāda tradition.
I was feeling ‘down’ one overcast night a few weeks back, and sat alone on a park bench in London putting my thoughts in order through poetry, Bhikkhu.
I like the positivity of your piece. The North Star and the constellations have occasionally appeared in pieces I’ve written. Their familiarity in the face of uncertainty is comforting, and I like your take on the familiarity of Polaris being ‘Another North’, in contrast to the city to the north of you.
Thanks for the read.
Apologies, I’m guessing I should be calling you Nyanasobhano, or Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano.
This contemplative and meditative poem is a treasure of enlightenment especially with the lessons of walking modestly by day and learning to see in the dark.
A beauty and a joy to read, I read it out loud and it was even more beautiful and satisfying to the ear and mind. Thank you, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano, for such a refreshing perspective on life, woven into meter and rhyme!
This was a joy to read. The final stanza is particularly mesmerizing. Thank you for blessing us with your fine work!
Wonderful expression of calm within the wider realm of modern noises.
A tremendously transcendent meditative piece, with scenic motion skillfully presented by the poet as though he were conducting an orchestra. The music moves from personal space to Megalopolis to the celestial sphere and back again, to introduce the moral qualities the meditation brings to mind. Very broad in scope and rich in thought.