5 Poems Pursuing Presence
Over the years, my poetry practice has become one of the biggest ways I practice presence.
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“The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.” —Thích Nhãt Hanh
Looking Too Far Past the Day
This is a longer piece and it’s a little rough, but I really wanted to put all of these different ideas out on the page. I wrote this at a moment when I was questioning why I work so hard for some of the things I chase. I usually don’t have too many doubts about my goals, but I do try to practice a healthy amount of self-introspection to be aware of when things aren’t going as well as they could be.
That’s where the slightly critical lines in this poem were born from. It was really me questioning myself since I am very much the kind of person who can’t stop reaching for the next step.
This poem is primarily a reminder for me (and anyone else who might struggle with this) to not completely neglect the present in favor of the future. Even though I’m always chasing long-term goals, I try not to push too hard to the point that I’m too exhausted to enjoy my life as it is right now. After all, small steps are the kind that keeps going and there’s no point in being so obsessed with the future that today isn’t enjoyable at all.
Watching the Edges of Butterfly Wings
This piece was inspired by a certain scene in the creative non-fiction interactive novella I’m working on for my thesis. A lot of what I’ve been examining through writing lately is self-introspection. Specifically, how the complicated pursuit of happiness can be when you aren’t quite sure what you want. This poem is a small bit of musing on how fragile those positive feelings can be sometimes.
Dancing Through Dim Days
