I've owned a few of those perfect mugsThe ones that stand tall,A slight narrowing at the base.Those cups whose handles are just rightFor the first three fingers to thread through,The smallest tucked just belowAnd the thumb wrapping to a comfortable homeOn the other side.Held this way, the warmth--Of coffee or tea or even soup--

Billy Collins in his teaching of writing poetry suggests an exercise where you use the first line of a poem that you like and see where it leads you. My first practice is to do a "response" poem to the anonymous four-line "O, Western Wind" the whole of which is: O Western Wind when wilt thou blowThe small rain down can rain…

Once the bulb shatters,Darkness leads to Fumbling for another light switchOr searching for a box of candlesWhile bouncing off a wall,Crashing into corners of doors.Or could I simply and softlySlide down onto the floor,Settle in with the darkness as my blanketAnd wait for the dawn.

The rope to the anchor is cut. When the weather is calm, the boat follows the soft pathOf the waterGliding easily around the the beaver's hutNo push from an oar or palm needed. But the water always changesAnd the rills become roilsPushing the nose of the boat this way and that,Spinning into eddiesOut again into the center of the stream.

From about 3 paragraphs into opening chapter...scene is a bar in an exurban neighborhood, once decaying, now being rejuvenated by bar owners like Jena who has inherited the old corner bar from the father she barely knew...the night is slow...only the regulars in... --With the rain outside, business would be slow. Not just any rain, not a vertical downpour but horizontal sheets rapping the windows asking to come in.

"Knock knock" "Who's there...?" "Are you?" Okay, not as good as "make me one with anything" but... We hear about the notion of being entirely in the present moment, of letting go of the past, of not looking toward the future. The past is gone; we can do nothing about it, after all. And the future? Well, we may be able to minimally affect the course of our life through our actions but we can only perform those actions in the present.

YouTube video by Okmusix

YouTube video by LegacyRecordingsVEVO