The Moment Critique

Notice the texture, the subtile depth of an edge

the perfect color of the spaces between

where nothing exists

except the potential of an instant

to evolve into what was not

ever before.

Billy Radd

Asheville

Habitual Ritual

Habitual Ritual

Can’t see too much from the inside,

outside of the music inside my head.

Was I running away from myself only to find

I’m up against, at last, an endless wall of men?

From the day I was born I was told what to think.

Strange, now that I’m older I can see

from the top down that the bottom is a sink

into which everything I do, say, or think disappears.

But, this is next to impossible to hear

when you’ve got nowhere to hide, 

everything to lose

and the end could be looming quite near.

Holy Moley, I can’t get the idea out of my head

that sooner or later, no matter what I think, say, or do,

I’m gonna be really, finally, unequivocally dead.

Oh, the wonder of it all, the wonder of the small.

I can’t remember the beginning, and won’t remember the end.

Life’s not a road that goes anywhere but in a circle.

So, I’m riding all the colors, notes, smells and flavors

like a jockey on a horse finally coming round the bend.

Billy Radd
Asheville

Bricks

Bricks that tell a story fired in stone,

clay from other ages, tapestry sewn

fine, hard linen all in a day’s work,

never seem to weaken 

while cold dead men shirk

the will to contain what we all hold dear

standing up against the outside,

it’s inside we should fear.

Billy Radd

Asheville

Of Color In Color

Curves around and about

the shapes of colors 

moving in circles 

around the walls 

of my inner space 

bouncing like golden balls 

leaning to and fro 

from the amber glow 

of a soft light

catching a slice 

of dark rainbow

in a bottle

Billy Radd

Asheville

The Eternal Circle

The Eternal Circle

Everywhere runs the Eternal Circle

No stopping, only moving

No regress, only advancement

No ending, only renewing

With beauty even in decay

New life

Lies soon ahead

Billy Radd
Asheville

Way of the Bicycle

Way of the Bicycle

Playing music, dancing, or riding a bike all model The Way of Tao.

When you play music or dance

or run down a road 
you are “in the moment”

on the cutting edge of time

like a flying bird, or a swimming fish, 

or a child riding a bike to school.

After you learn how to ride a bicycle

you don’t have to think about 

pushing down with one foot 

while relaxing the other, 

keeping both feet on the pedals, 

running into a curb,

or balancing.

You can do it automatically after some practice

and whistle a tune or talk to a friend

at the same time

without concentrating on 

not falling off your bike.

Following your own life path can be similar.

After you learn how to follow your own way, 

you don’t have to think about every choice

you must make in life.

You can do it automatically after some practice

and whistle a tune or talk to a friend

at the same time

without concentrating on

not falling off your path.

Billy Radd

Asheville

Life Lives

Life holds on.

Whether or not the human race survives,

we can be sure that the universe will continue in its way

of evolving living things where it can

when it can

forever.

Billy Radd
Asheville