Poems About Suffering

When Buddhists talk about suffering they are most often referring to emotions such as anxiety, grief, depression, loneliness, alienation, fear, anger, despair, craving and hatred. The poems that follow touch on some of these sufferings.

Fear

I am not being chased by a hungry lion.
Yet I live with fear.
I fear tomorrow.
Yet the sun always rises.
I fear death.
Yet I am not dead.
I fear change.
Yet I can do nothing to stop change.
I fear separation.
Yet separation is ever present.
I fear fear itself.
Yet fear is a product of my own mind.
Fear is useful when real danger threatens.
Yet there is very little that needs to be feared.

Always Remember This

Sunlight filtered through lush green leaves,
The gurgling waterfall,
The glorious scent of the Chinese lilac
carried on a soft spring breeze,
The taste of the honeysuckle blossom on your tongue,
The sweet song of robin and sparrow,
And the kiss of your lover's lips.
All these things help define true reality.
Not the harsh clanking of the MRI machine.
Always remember this!

A Daffodil

Oh if I were only a daffodil 
Blooming brightly on a hill
I would not worry of troubling things
Or what new risks tomorrow brings
No danger near would make me flee
I’d stay right there and simply be!

Gone Forever

What do you do when you lose the purpose of your life?
When your Loved One is gone forever?
When the core of your being has been ripped from you?
The pleasure of the simplest things were amplified by her presence. 
But now what used to give me joy is flat and dull. 
I have no idea what to do with my life. 
Even on my best days I simply move from one distraction to the next. 
Distractions from loneliness and life without purpose. 
God, can you help me?

A Dream

My angel, my lover, my partner, my wife,
It’s been over a year since you left this life.
Last night in my dream you were lost in a crowd.
I called out in anguish, ever so loud.
But I could not find you, though I looked on and on.
And when I awoke, I found you still gone.

Unsettled

Unsettled,
That’s how I feel today.
I’m afraid to even write this down,
But I do it anyway. 

Change is on the horizon 
And I’ve become so brittle to change.
Since my Loved One passed
I have no purpose
To keep my life arranged.

So, unsettled is how I feel today.
My  life’s ship is now adrift
With no purpose to steer me on my way.

Loss

At first I cried most every day.
Later, I daily dropped a tear.
Now I hold my tears at bay, 
Still, I could not miss you more, my dear. 

Alone

Feeling alone,
I walk among the people
But I’m still alone

Darkness

When the darkness oozes into my consciousness,
Its thick, heavy gel clogging my mind
Blocking all joyous thought,
And catching me in its sticky, syrupy grasp,
I need only dilute it with the light of the universe.
As my mind expands to the limits of the cosmos,
Photons from billions of galaxies 
Penetrate my every thought.
I am not just myself. 
I am made from star dust!
The blood of my ancestors surges through my arteries,
And I am one with 
    the mountains, 
    the streams, 
    the forests and 
    every life on this planet. 
The darkness is vanquished!

My Loved One Is With Me

I know you are here. 
I am breathing for you. 
I am smiling for you. 
I am enjoying looking around with your eyes. 
I am enjoying life with you. 
I know that you are still here very close to me, and that now you continue in me.   

- Paraphrased from The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh

Lost

My Loved One,
It’s been many years now since I lost you,
So it’s not surprising that it’s cold, rainy and gray today.
Most of the time I have been getting along
But sometimes, like right now,
I let myself just feel the grief of your loss.
Even when I am happy and occupied with some project,
It usually ends on a little downturn when I realize
that I can’t share it with you.
I wish so much that you were still with me.
I say all the time that you are with me
because you are in my thoughts.
But, of course, it’s not the same as having you
to hold in my arms,
to see you smile,
to hear you laugh,
to just know that you are still alive.
No, of course not the same, but it’s something.
And I must be satisfied with something,
This is all that any of us can do.