Kaveri Patel

Thanking a Monkey
There’s a monkey in my mindswinging on a trapeze,reaching back to the pastor leaning into the future,never standing still.
Sometimes I want to killthat monkey, shoot it squarebetween the eyes so I won’thave to think anymoreor feel the pain of worry.
But today I thanked herand she jumped downstraight into my lap,trapeze still swingingas we sat still.

Who Says I Can't Meditate in My Sleep?
I search for a buoy in this stormas the black waves threaten to kill me.The mind buoy has me swimmingin twenty directions,my muscles cramping in fear.The body buoy asks me to just floatand feel the true weight of my worries.
The breath buoy suggests I diedissolving into the ocean itself-the rise and fall of all experiencesand wise stillness underneath.

Kaveri Patel loves to write. When she isn't writing, she enjoys meditation, yoga, parenting, singing, the ocean, family medicine, and spending time with her wonderful family. Her work has appeared in Buddha Chick Life. She also won third place in the 2011 international Spirit First poetry contest for her poem Forgiveness.