There's an old Sanskrit term known as Sarvam Anam.
Which means everything is food.
Everything is food.
You're constantly consuming something through one of the various senses.
Right now you're consuming me and my words and my energy.
And that food tends to either be healthy or unhealthy.
Certainly a spectrum of healthiness to unhealthiness.
Everything is food.
And poetry,
I tend to find to be pretty good food.
There's all different types of poetry,
But to read a poem or to write a poem,
To me,
Feels like it's just good,
Healthy food.
And one way of consuming and maybe digesting and metabolizing the food of poetry that I like to do is to try to memorize a poem that I like.
So I've been trying to memorize a poem recently.
And a way that helps me to memorize it is to try to share it with someone else.
So I'm gonna try to share it with you.
I don't know if I'll be able to or how it will go.
But here it goes.
It's called Dust If You Must by Rose Milligan.
Dust if you must.
But wouldn't it be better?
To paint a picture or write a letter.
To bake a cake,
Or plant a seed,
Ponder the difference between want and need.
Dust if you must.
But there's not much time.
With rivers to swim and mountains to climb.
Music to hear,
Books to read.
Friends to cherish.
Life to lead.
Dust if you must.
But the world's out there.
The sun in your face,
The wind in your hair.
Flutter of snow.
Shower of rain.
This day will not come around again.
Dust if you must.
But bear in mind.
Old age will come and it's not always kind.
And when you go.
Go you must!
You yourself.
Will make more dust.
Does that you must.
And I'll just let you know here,
I do a free live session every Friday called Poetry as Meditation Sessions.
And come and enjoy poetry with me.
We usually write a haiku together and then I'll read out everybody's haikus that chooses to share all the different haiku ku-ku's as one haiku at the end.
So thank you.
I got through it.
And now I know it and feel it a little bit more deeply.
