Monday, 26 May 2025

The Field of Thorns (A meditation on frustration and the soil of the mind)

Why is our mind,

so often steeped in sorrow,

clouded by the bitter smoke

of frustration?


Was it not once—

a canvas clean,

a soft, untrodden path,

a mirror without stain?


The One who shaped us—

who breathed into us a spark—

gave us minds

innocent as the first dawn,

pure as a newborn sky.


But we,

restless in our growing,

poured in the venom

of our narrowing thoughts,

we seeded our fears,

our jealousies, our pride—

into that supple soil

of the soul’s beginning.


And so it grew—

not a garden,

but a harvest of thorns.

A field choked with sharpness,

where no blossom breathes,

and no breeze carries peace.


Now we eat

what we ourselves have planted.

We taste the bitterness

of our own hardened growth.

And we wonder,

why we feel so stifled,

why we name ourselves

frustrated, broken—

why even in silence,

we ache.


Why do we not return—

to that soft, wet clay

of the mind unformed,

where fresh thoughts can bloom

like lilies in spring rain?


When we were children—

how open we were!

How light the truth sat upon our shoulders!

We laughed with our whole bodies,

we cried with honest eyes.

There was no thorn

within our souls.


So why do we not carry

that clarity forward,

that radiant honesty

through all the years?


Why do we let

the world chisel us down

into sharper versions

of ourselves?


*If only*—

if only we could till again

the soil of our minds,

if only we could sow

the seeds of kindness,

compassion,

generosity of spirit.


Then never again

would frustration rise

like weeds in spring.


Then no longer

would our thoughts

turn brittle and cruel,

and no longer

would we forget

that we were born

to bloom.


Let the mind be moist again—

not with anger,

but with wonder.

Let us not reap

the thorns of our own bitterness,

but tend instead

a field of gentleness.


And perhaps then,

we will no longer be known

as frustrated souls,

but as minds

made wide again by love—

and lives

made free again

by light.


---


Would you like this poem shaped into a printed page format or broken into visual stanzas for easier reading aloud or performance?

A meditation on frustration and the soil of the mind)*


Why is our mind,

so often steeped in sorrow,

clouded by the bitter smoke

of frustration?


Was it not once—

a canvas clean,

a soft, untrodden path,

a mirror without stain?


The One who shaped us—

who breathed into us a spark—

gave us minds

innocent as the first dawn,

pure as a newborn sky.


But we,

restless in our growing,

poured in the venom

of our narrowing thoughts,

we seeded our fears,

our jealousies, our pride—

into that supple soil

of the soul’s beginning.


And so it grew—

not a garden,

but a harvest of thorns.

A field choked with sharpness,

where no blossom breathes,

and no breeze carries peace.


Now we eat

what we ourselves have planted.

We taste the bitterness

of our own hardened growth.

And we wonder,

why we feel so stifled,

why we name ourselves

frustrated, broken—

why even in silence,

we ache.


Why do we not return—

to that soft, wet clay

of the mind unformed,

where fresh thoughts can bloom

like lilies in spring rain?


When we were children—

how open we were!

How light the truth sat upon our shoulders!

We laughed with our whole bodies,

we cried with honest eyes.

There was no thorn

within our souls.


So why do we not carry

that clarity forward,

that radiant honesty

through all the years?


Why do we let

the world chisel us down

into sharper versions

of ourselves?


*If only*—

if only we could till again

the soil of our minds,

if only we could sow

the seeds of kindness,

compassion,

generosity of spirit.


Then never again

would frustration rise

like weeds in spring.


Then no longer

would our thoughts

turn brittle and cruel,

and no longer

would we forget

that we were born

to bloom.


Let the mind be moist again—

not with anger,

but with wonder.

Let us not reap

the thorns of our own bitterness,

but tend instead

a field of gentleness.


And perhaps then,

we will no longer be known

as frustrated souls,

but as minds

made wide again by love—

and lives

made free again

by light.


---


Would you like this poem shaped into a printed page format or broken into visual stanzas for easier reading aloud or performance?

No comments:

Post a Comment