From the introduction: I remember one of the first times that I wrote a poem. I was standing outside with my father and we were just talking, when all of a sudden a hummingbird came by. As it flew around, we both watched it. He said to me, "Why don't you write a poem about that?" I said, "About what?" He said, "Just about what you see." So I composed a little poem, a haiku of sorts, and then he composed one. We went back and forth, picking various subjects, spontaneously reciting short poems. Over the years, we often worked together on poetry in this way. I have never pored over, or analyzed my poetry. It has always been a way for me to express directly any feelings or insights that might occur. And although I would hardly venture to call myself a poet, I've always enjoyed writing poetry. I find it exciting and challenging to take situations that seem confusing and overwhelming, and be able to simplify them to find out what is really at the root. Most of the poems in this book (as well as most of my poems in general) just come to me; then I recite them out loud and they are written down. I rarely sit and labor over my poetry. In fact, preparing for this little book was an interesting task: it was a novel experience having people ask me what I meant by this word, if that was supposed to rhyme with this, or what a particular poem was really about. Those issues never come up when I feel like composing a poem. Also most of my poems are written more as personal notes than as anything I intend to proclaim or show the world. Occasionally, however, people do ask me to compose a poem for a particular occasion, and in general I am able to come up with something. Life in its simplest form seems to be a constant flow of images and ideas. The point is, we can take our time and look at our situation – whether we are in a busy city, seeing the lights and feeling the movement, or whether we are overwhelmed by some natural beauty. When we have time and space to experience these little moments, they become vivid and stick in our mind. Then if we are able to write our experiences down, that is what some might call poetry. I find writing poetry in this way extremely valuable, in that when we write, we have to slow down and let some space into the moment. This is extremely invigorating and refreshing. It's also a wonderful discipline, a way to work with our mind and our perceptions. I often wish that I had more time to write. There seem to be endless possibilities of using language, of exploring the meanings of words, and connecting them to emotions and events. There are infinite possibilities of playing with language – with how we communicate, and what it means to communicate or not; with how we use space, and social and cultural norms; discovering which words seem to confine or liberate us, what affects us immediately, and what takes time to penetrate. I often feel the simple things in life have the most profound affect – and simplicity is what I appreciate so much about poetry. I hope that this book will be of benefit, and that it will inspire others to create their own poems and appreciate the simplicity we so often overlook in our lives. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche Karmê-Chöling 4 December 1994

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