Empty your mind, they say.
Concentrate on a sound.
Let it go.
Find your inner…
Find
Look
Seek
Let it go
There is that irony
in deliberately
chasing
nothingness
In deliberately
emptying the mind
In controlling the body
so that the mind
may empty
as many describe it
Concentrate
but
let it go
Open that mind-fist
and let
the wind of thought
fly away.
Sit still
Go for a walk
Stand still.
Let it come
Let it go
I like it best
when surprise stops me
as I am busying myself
makes me take a second
and a third
and a fourth
and however many more
looks
at the wonder of what I see.
Not sought
but emerging as the focus
on its own
filling the mind
rather than emptying it
(although some may argue it is emptied of all else
when this occurs)
Letting it play out
usually an instance in the life
of another being
beast
or flora
showing me
our connectedness
in ways
both expected and
unexpected.
The irony of it all
is the best meditation
for me.

Bev Hartford for The Poplar Grove Muse