Poem – Map of a Garden: You Are Here

I float above my personal atlas to

Find a new garden.

I draw contour lines and color fields

Let them fill in like growth rings

The way I imagine the

Landscape of a poem and make

A poem-map, compass rose

Pointing inward and out.

From toothbrush to bedtime story is

The map of a lucky child’s day

The map of “Smoke Maker” has

Six directions,

Already a subscriber? Log in

You have read 5 articles this month.

For only $3 per month or $28 per year, you can read as much as you want!
A digital subscription includes unlimited access to current articles–and some exclusive digital content–released throughout each week, over thirty years of articles in our Dharma archive, as well as PDFs of all back issues.

Subscribe

I float above my personal atlas to

Find a new garden.

I draw contour lines and color fields

Let them fill in like growth rings

The way I imagine the

Landscape of a poem and make

A poem-map, compass rose

Pointing inward and out.

From toothbrush to bedtime story is

The map of a lucky child’s day

The map of “Smoke Maker” has

Six directions, a veil and a blindfold…

Saffron page after saffron

Page of projections

Territories common and rugged

As stones foliate and fade

I lay pins on the new

Map of the new garden:

A pin for sun

A pin for grapes

A pin for lilacs

A pin for ladybugs

You Are Here

The map of my garden

On this private meridian

Has a pavilion with cushions

A fountain with peacock-green tiles

A path from one to the other

Three pins for honeysuckle and pleasure

I am here at the intersection of

Here and Now

Where golden rose and jasmine

Replace the noxious

Weeds of disturbed places

Where clarity of sky

Prevents its falling.

— Esther Kamkar

Log In

You can also login with your password. Don't have an account yet? Sign Up

Hide Transcript

What is Mindfulness

Thich Nhat Hanh January 15, 2020

00:00 / 00:00
Show Hide Transcript Close
Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!