Blue waterlilies

Words like light

20
Written by Catherin J Pascal Dunk

Words can be beautiful as gems; lovely, as flowers…1

Faceted with meaning and colour—upending rivers of thought and feeling—spreading inward (or out) in karmic circles.

Faceted like those lilies on the campus pond, their washed indigo petals the many sides of a milky crystal, cut to dazzle.

Popping mildly, surprisingly into view as the eye reaches each one—these stars born of mud, like living light.

Disappearing around a bend as you move on, but vivid still, in the mind—fantastical beacons of hope; joy.

If this is all it takes to be free from suffering, let us plant more.

Cast their bulbs far and freely into each liquid body, fresh or foul.

Blue waterlilies growing in profusion on a creek bordered by a jungle of trees and shrubs and, on one side, lawn
Photos taken by Catherin J Pascal Dunk 2025 at University of Newcastle, Ourimbah campus
Audio by Catherin J Pascal Dunk 2025
For a YouTube of this poem being performed, click here

Shared for d’Verse poets pub December 2025, https://wp.me/p1GTyJ-8Me

  1. This line is modified from zen master Thich Nhat Hanh’s ‘Talking on the Telephone’ gatha: https://www.stillwatermpc.org/practice-resources/mindfulness-gathas/ ↩︎

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