what julien said

Julien said
all poetry
must come
from the empty place.
Emptiness reminds me
of openness -
a wonderful virtue
to bear. After all,
it's through openness alone
that we are able to give
and to receive.

I made a painting of nothing.
A lot of colors. Formless shapes
and shapeless forms
in which to see
the shadows of
whatever lives
behind your eyes.
Julien said
it will be called
"Untitled #1."

Behind my eyes
flowers bloom.
I am grateful
to remember
simplicity
again.

I want to make a painting
with 7 million
shades of blue
distinct
and yet
the same
like you & I.

By the way,
by you
I mean
all of you
and me too
and the earth
and God.
I only said earth first
before God
because I think
she doesn't get quite
enough airtime.
Sometimes what is hard
or impossible to grasp
makes us lost in concept
makes us forget that we are
already
home.

It's true
that books are sort of like
plants, earth, or bread
in that stories sustain
and beautify us and
we live inside of them, too.

When I was confused
again, Julien said,
"Ask your heart."
He said
"The answer is there.
Don't
think.
What is yours
to do
is what overflows
naturally
from you."

Words
beautiful precious
words
pour out of me like water.
It is worth it
pursuing a million passions
even if it makes me crazy.
I have so many limbs
with which to make music
and a heart
at the center of this
symphonic ocean of God
whose thirst
to express the beauty I see
will never be
quenched.