This is a second volume of 'tweet constrained' poems, arising from these uncertain times.
(Volume 1 can be found here.)
Blessings as you find your way in these turbulent waters.
Dan
a guru
if you need one
go get one!
by all means
it's a good plan
if you don't need one
don't do it
heartbreak
betrayal
is next
advice of a wise one
(not a guru)
my heroes
failed me
spectacularly
or i them?
now
a loving friend
trusting my heart
paying attention
is enough
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Briana Tozour
what you needed
i didn't offer
was sensed in shattered heart shrapnel of hurt that struck me acidic tears burning
ah yes, you misunderstood me your sensitivity excessive
your needs too much
how i used this to wall myself from your pain
how do i accompany you? without defense
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Javier Martinez
trees speak
tender pulses
electrons
chemical touching
woven roots
tendrils reaching
invisible on the surface
we know
it is real
you and i
this beloved silence
yet
full of speech
rooted in intention
weaves
a fabric
energy
i sense
i taste truth
in your presence
without words
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Camille Brodard
the label
i placed on you so easily
comes from within me a learned reaction
simplifying the complexity of you
it reveals a poverty of wonder a failing of my imagination
heat and suffering forged your edge your secret self
hammer blows shaped you
you I so fail to truly know
Dan Hines 2021 photo by Jonny Gios
at first i thought the problem was
you
later i believed what was wrong was
us
now now i am learning
it is
me
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Riccardo Mion
voting blues
i inked my x
in the circle
yesterday
fatigue
slowed my hand
it felt heavy
cynical polls of blue & red
one will win
i'm told
false binary
coke or pepsi
political corn syrup
in flavours
i long for
a clear stream
a cupped hand
water fresh and cold
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Parker Johnson
vaccine
a needle
small
a vile of liquid mixes
in five litres
of pumping blood
i do understand
the resistance
doubt
hesitation
fear
all alive in me too
yet
i am
less likely
to kill you
or die
with this in my arm
injecting hope
peace
in a heart
pumping blood
Dan Hines 2021
photo my Mat Napo
decisions
navigator friends
of the Pacific
have revealed
i make
thousands
of tiny responses
daily
wind shifts
sensing waves
the rudder adjusts
i once thought
decisions
were a big thing
now
they are series
of small responses
deciding
is
awareness
to the flow
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Geran de Klerk
chemistry
this complex mystery
how you were ready
for me
and
i
for
you
our mutual reactivity
catalyzed
in the mixing
of us
there is
no value
in explanations
other ones
grace my life
it's nice
yet little happens
my heart
near you
gladly
continually
scares me
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Elevate
smoke and virus
in the same breath
it's hard
to breathe
this fading summer
this blood red sun
my small corner
of this world
is
afire
i am told to
be brave
fear the flames
and
virus
fear friends
stay home
hide
stay small
i find a breath
in telling you this
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Malachi Brooks
my body
an amazon warehouse
a soul waiting patiently inside
for delivery
to a heavenly address
above messiness
i was deformed
in religion
in this belief
now
this body
is pure glory
messy
radiant
wise
heaven is
sensation
of
you
this brief moment
of a breath
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Mauricio Gutierrez
fear
shame
anxiety
anger
only visitors
all
they visit my heart
a heart
pure
clear
some visit often
some think they live here
some want me to believe
they are me
yet
they
are
not
who i am
below sin
surface waves
of suffering
is the depth
the calm
the reality
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Geran de Klerk
my confusion lies between contentment & denial
be present love where you are
wise ones teach
what if the moment the place is not enough?
an island i've never visited haunts my vision
this safe beach
this restless yearning
i push my boat through the breakers
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Andreas Kretschmer
i'm holding four questions
all my life
it's the same four
the loud two
obvious
demanding
urgent
what do you need to do?
how can you get it done?
so i list my tasks
make a plan
the other two questions
disturbing
resisted
why do this?
who is this guy asking?
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Evan Dennis
i'm weary
of
binary
ways to be with you
this prison
i fight you
or flee
i invade you
or evade you
i fix you
or abandon you
two options?
really?
the third is simple
i sense you
that's all
in wonder
in freedom
you are regarded
accompanied
the surprise
arises
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Roberto Nickson
alas,
here and now
and open
is all I have left to offer you
who I am
in this simple knowing
how I meet you
the rest of it
the drama
are
illusions I hold
don't get me wrong!
I cling to delusional control
and outcomes
and attach desperately
to the unreal
Dan Hines 2021
photo by Moritz Knöringer