The Blade

A spoken word poem based on Nichiren Buddhism (specifically SGI), and how it's helped me overcome struggles in my life.

vibrations of sound

make me expound upon

the inner Buddha nature's

nomenclature...

lost in a mystical

wind path, my pathos-

logically lyin' to

the tumor's injurious

synapses...

creatin' time lapses that

inter-mass the past and present,

makin' me hesitant, the president

of my neurotic thoughts,

as I present myself

on a shelf of nerve-

is-

ness. 

So I must once again center

with daimoku, and go through

the conflict that I tricked

myself into believin'

was the truth.

From Chicago, to Detroit, to Redruth

moves my crimson spirit.

You hear it?

Don't fear it, it's a

natural progression.

This is actual succession,

just an ill-use-ive 

impression

of the Buddha.

That ludicrous

idea that you da

bliss, the perfection

injection you seekin'

peekin' out from beneath

the sword sheath that hides

the blade

that cuts through time

that is

You.

Author's Note

Just a quick explanation of some of the terms in the poem - "daimoku" means chanting "nam myoho renge kyo," which translates to "Devotion to the mystic law of the lotus sutra." It's one of the central tenets of Nichiren Buddhism. Some famous people, such as Tina Turner, Herbie Hancock, Orlando Bloom (and apparently Katy Perry!) practice this form of Buddhism.

I wrote this for a poetry night at the SGI center in Atlanta. If you're interested, and haven't heard of it before, check out http://sgi-usa.org.

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

truth seeking, with brutal personal honesty, is an arduous path says i! given all the people in the world i think few really attempt it ...and fewer still arrive at a satisfaction of some sort ... we all must take this journey with commitment and courage ..it only takes one selfish act to destroy the love we hold to with such fragile hands ... good stuff ..not much of a rap fan but the sense of it in your poem works to make it fresh and way more youthful than i ;) thanks for sharing!
E.

[Eric Pudalov]

You're very welcome! I guess you could think of it as rap; spoken word and rap have a lot in common. I've never created a beat to go with it, though!

[Lyn Anderson]

Very interesting and well written. I especially like the flow and your use of ill-use-ive. We gain freedom as we shed our illusions of who we thought we were and come to terms with who we are.