Unspoken Word
April 27, 2023
Prometheseus Speaks

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:13 PM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2021
Radiant Being of Light

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TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 07:03 PM | Comments (1)

October 02, 2020
What We Really Want

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TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:08 PM | Comments (1)

August 13, 2020
I Have Written 1,000 Poems for You

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I have written a thousand poems for you
that have never left my room,
they fill the pages of notebooks
stacked high on a shelf no one can reach,
orphans they are,
beggars afraid they are not
noble enough for the King,
would never make it past the guards,
I make a vain attempt
to dress them up,
disguise their ridiculous origins,
but still they smell bad,
even so, there are times, late at night,
when they think I'm asleep,
I can almost hear them talking to each other,
conjuring ways to make it to your court,
oh, the arguments they have,
the brawls,
the lunatic moments of staking their ground!
Some of them actually believe
all they need is a shower and a shave,
others, unsure of who they are or might have been,
insist on practicing, all night long,
their perfect way of greeting you.
Of course, there is much to be said
for these backroom bards,
these arm wrestling vagrants from another world,
indeed, if I was dead,
my slightly deaf biographer,
after paying his respects to my dear, sweet wife,
would borrow them just long enough to search for pearls,
find the perfect turn of phrase,
the sudden storm of brilliance
even my harshest critics
would have to praise,
he'd think of clever little titles for the tome,
describing, in his mournfully halting way,
the "man who left his muse too soon"
or some such thing
that might make you stop for a moment and wonder
why I never gave these poems to you --
the one for whom it all makes sense,
even when it doesn't.

Excerpted from Full Moon at Sunrise
Photo: Aaron Burden, Unsplash

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:43 AM | Comments (0)

August 02, 2020
May I Stay Here Forever

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TimelessToday
Excerpted from this book

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:24 PM | Comments (1)

April 22, 2020
Give Everything You Have

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Excerpted from this book

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2019
A GREAT SADNESS IS UPON ME

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ONE
A great sadness is upon me,
like a mist in a forest no one can see.
It does not lift, this mist,
even when butterflies find their way through it
and wolves.
Not yet a wise man, still I already know
what people will say
when I confess to them this feeling of mine.
"Get a hobby",
"Count your blessings",
"Look at the bright side of life."
Spare me, please,
I am not looking for answers, my friends,
nor am I looking for questions.
I am just sitting here,
an unopened love letter on a Thursday afternoon,
a great sadness upon me.

TWO
I have made the only decision worth making today --
stop trying so hard,
the glorious gifts of God cannot be gotten that way.
They can only be received,
like rain to the thirsty,
like a long embrace unrequested,
like the way a baby looks at a stranger
and the stranger no longer feels strange.
Discipline is not the path to the heart
and never will be,
being a disciple is.
Of what, you ask,
of that which exists everywhere, all the time, forever,
needing nothing but itself to shine,
radiant, self-effulgent, already free, alive.
It has no name, this mirror of light,
even if you give it one, like a lover,
in a fit of adoration,
needing an object of devotion.

THREE
Here's what I know:
Nothing.
Here's what I've accomplished so far:
Less than that.
There is a sky overhead
and ground beneath my feet.
Everything else
is simply way too much to think about.

FOUR
One of the illusions of life
is that something needs to be done:
a field to mow,
a room to clean,
a destination to reach.
Actually, it's quite the opposite.
something needs to be undone,
untangled, unraveled, unmade,
like the spider web I weave each morning
pearled with dew,
to catch what I already have.

FIVE
On my death bed,
where I will not make love,
it is very likely,
after my long, slow ascent
into whatever comes next,
that I will find myself
apologizing to all the people
I was never quite able to love enough,
wishing I had been a much bigger field
for them to dance in,
dance and sing and laugh or do nothing at all
if that's what they wanted.
Like you, for example.

SIX
I have come to the end of the line.
This one!
The one above,
the one with only two words:
This
as in what is now before me,
free of assumption, story, and belief,
and one --
that which is irreducible,
what was there in the very beginning,
though I realize, of course,
it is certainly possible that something existed long before it,
something pristine, holy, and divine,
but please don't call it zero,
really, don't, I beg you,
your cleverness only reminds me of mine.
Before that, too.

SEVEN
I am a guest in my own house,
I am not the owner
even if you think I am.
I am just passing through,
like a breeze through a half-opened window
like a thought in your mind,
like a piece of thread through the eye of a needle,
tailor nowhere in sight.

EIGHT
Beethoven, the first time he realized he was deaf,
still listened,
what he heard was far beyond sound,
more like the place where sound originates.
You can call it music if you like,
but the real symphony is playing
inside the impulse to listen
even when there is nothing to hear
and no one on stage
to applaud for.

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:32 AM | Comments (3)

November 07, 2018
Longing Wells Up from Within

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TimelessToday
Heart of the Matter
Words of Peace Global

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:29 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2018
Ah... This Restlessness

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2018
Off the Coast of Love

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2018
The Underground of Love

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:01 PM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2018
The Beautiful Sadness of Longing

THE BEAUTIFUL SADNESS OF LONGING

There is a beautiful kind of sadness, one most people think they shouldn't feel, that needs to be celebrated. Or, if not celebrated, then at least welcomed like the evening's last beggar at your door.

This sadness is divine, the experience of what most people consider to be an absence, but, in reality, is the presence of the divine longing for the Beloved.

It would be easy to conclude that this feeling is a disconnection from joy, an unfortunate amnesia that would make an easy target for well-meaning givers of advice to quote from their favorite scripture,
but I am not talking about this garden variety of sadness. I am talking about another kind -- a holy melancholy that sculpts, deepens, and refines from within.

Like the dusk that follows day, it is not devoid of light -- only another shade of light. Yes, it is darker, but so what? Isn't it the darkness that allows the stars to shine?

When a human being is in the presence of their Beloved, it is easy to feel joy. Like leaving home in the middle of a storm, it is easy to get wet there. But when the Beloved departs (ah, the paradox, the late night debates -- does the Beloved ever depart?), an uncomfortable feeling arises.

The moon is full, but you are empty -- thirsty for something to fill you again, but the only thing to drink is a bucket of tears and you cannot find the handle. Off in the distance you hear the sound of a cello. Is it sad or beautiful?

Drawn by the music, you follow, feeling your way, singing silent songs of praise and wondering if what you hear is the sound of your own voice or your name being called.

You know and have always known, that the Beloved has left the world behind as a gift. But you do not want the gift. You want the Giver.

Video production: Fernando Garcia
Music: Stuart Hoffman

Poetry: Mitch Ditkoff

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 08:53 PM | Comments (3)

January 15, 2018
Why Am I Always Waiting?

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TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 03:02 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2018
Harvest Me

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TimelessToday

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2017
The Diamond Inside

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Excerpted from this book

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:43 PM | Comments (1)

August 29, 2017
The Ecstatic Wound of Longing

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Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 01:37 PM | Comments (1)

August 02, 2017
The Great Mystery

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Excerpted from this book
Storytelling at Work
TimelessToday
MitchDitkoff.com

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2017
Looking

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MitchDitkoff.com
My storytelling blog
My book of poetry

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 05:09 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2016
When the Rain Begins

Exquisite new song and slide show by Stuart Hoffman and Jennifer Edwards. Vocals by Stephen Rivera.

Stuart's YouTube channel
Soaked

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)

April 07, 2016
Welcome to UNSPOKEN WORD: THE POETRY OF LIFE!

Greetings! Mitch Ditkoff here, author of UNSPOKEN WORD: The Poetry of Life. My intention with this newly launched blog is to spark some inspiration, reflection, and gratitude -- a chance for you to take a breath, pause, and savor some of the sweetness of life. Knowing how busy you usually are, each post will take you less than a minute to imbibe. Today's launch is the exception, one that includes ten posts -- my attempt to give you a flavor of what's to come. Please enjoy. And if you do, please spread the word. Good muse travels fast...

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TimelessToday
PremRawat.com
Heart of the Matter

Posted by Mitch Ditkoff at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)

“I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry.”
— John Cage

Welcome to my new blog — brief ruminations on what it is that moves me (and maybe YOU, too). If any of my poems inspire you, please forward them to friends. Good muse travels fast. Or could, with your help.

About me.
Contact me.

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© Mitch Ditkoff