Friday, September 01, 2006

In the Heart of the Night
By Don Iannone

There is a heart
that beats in the night.
It carries us into our dreams,
where our heart opens us
to the world of all possibilities.
There is a heart
that beats in the night
connecting us
to the boundaryless universe we call home,
but only know in our hearts.
There is a heart
that beats in the night
awakening our soul,
which exists in both repeated
and unrepeated vastness.
Listen closely to your heart beat at night.
It dreams of new possibilities you will become.

20 comments:

QUASAR9 said...

"Listen closely to your heart beat at night.
It dreams of new possibilities you will become"


Great Mantra, Don!

Margie said...

Beautiful!!!!
Thanks Don!

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Margie and Quasar. Much appreciated. Mantra it is Q.

dumbdodi said...

So Don...Heart over Mind then?

repeated and unrepeated vastness - Vastness of knowledge, success, pain, experience. Great point

rama said...

Hullo Don! Recently, under a lot of anxiety, feeling utterly challenged, I found the key to remaining steady and focussed, when in my sleep the song "Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning" resonated. So your poem today - talks to me. Many Thanks! And many thanks also for your visits and kind comments. Best, rama

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Dumbdodi...yes by all means heart over mind.

Thanks Rama...great little song, and your photos are greatly important to my awareness of everyday life in Calcutta.

serenity said...

Beautiful words....possibilities, always possibilities.

Blessings!

Pat Paulk said...

New possibilities are good!! Excellent Don!!

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Dan, Serenity, and Pat. Happy Friday to all.

Anonymous said...

Don,

Your poetry is beautiful. When reading your work, I often think, I know that truth, I know that feeling--and even when I don't have experiential knowledge, I am touched by how you interpret so beautifully, the many dimensions of the human spirit. Lovely writing.

I'm curious about your creative process. How do you choose the subject (or does it choose you), do you complete each piece in one sitting, is your writing kind of stream of consciousness, do you ever revise a piece?

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Hi Anne...

Thanks.

Good questions. In response:

1. The subject is me and whatever I am experiencing in life. Usually I know intuitively whether there is a poem there.

2. Most often, I write a poem in one sitting.

3. I revise by tweaking a poem. I try not to change the original flow too much because that is what makes a poem unique and special. If you lose that, your poetry sounds mechanical.

4. Some times ideas just pop into my head from a meduation session or another experience.

How about you?

Blessings!

Bob said...

Our age needs more people like you Don! Forward, forward into the light!

Anonymous said...

Don,

Great answers!

My head and heart often have trouble understanding each other. Until I can get them more sympatico, poetry is out of the question. But I'm working on the process.

Blessings also to you!

Kai said...

beautiful

J. Andrew Lockhart said...

Makes me feel like listening more often. :)

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Andrew...thanks.

Sometimes we all feel that way about wanting to listen. There is so much we have to learn about ourselves, or so it seems.

I find when I listen to my heart beat sometimes it tells me stories. Most are about remembering, but a fair number also point to what lies ahead. All are in the moment, which is eactly where our hearts always are.

serenity said...

Don,
I came back to this poem again. I have so many thoughts about this, specifically directed to the heart in a more literal fashion this morning.

It was once believed of course that the heart as an organ carried our emotions, and "modern" science transitioned us into believing that emotion was housed in the brain.

But when we still ourselves and listen for our heart beating, we know there is something there beyond just a mechanical and electrical pump of circulation. We have all felt the heaviness in our chest when we are devastated in sorrow, the racing in anticipation of something exciting, the leap in our chest when we are in love, the feelings of fear, etc.

Listen closely to your heartbeat and the dreams of possibilities. As a metaphor and as something very literal, I am finding more and more beauty and depth in this poem. Rob is right, Don. This time and this world needs more people like you.

Blessings of peace and joy to you!

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Serenity...thank you. Wonderful observations about the "heart" -- multifacted as it is and vital as it is. May we all live heartfully; that full of heart in every way.

CE said...

"I try not to change the original flow too much because that is what makes a poem unique and special. If you lose that, your poetry sounds mechanical."

Excellent advice.

I stopped writing poetry for a while because of this: sounding mechanical.
But of course one must follow ones intuition in this matter.

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Yes indeed Imemine. Thanks.

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