Category: Poems

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I Can Beat The Buddha In A Fight!

Steve Rowe

Coming round here with all your bloody wisdom, what good’s that gonna do you in a fight eh? The 4 Noble Truths…. ain’t gonna help you in the pavement arena – when I’m banging your head on it! And as for you Jesus with all your parables, I’ll just kick you in ’em and even if you do come back from the dead I’ll bloody well do it again! There is only one type of martial arts and I’m it! I’m tougher and harder that all of you! If you don’t let me beat you up in class to show … Continue reading I Can Beat The Buddha In A Fight!

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If I die tonight

Steve Rowe

Dedicated to my good friend the late Graham Wednes. If I die tonight will the universe stop? If I return to the Tao it will be like a wave returning to the sea; No more ‘being human’ and only ‘sensing’ the infinite; From whence I came, I will return and be it once more. My ‘place of refuge’ becomes my home again. In the infinite, all time exists all of the time, the theatre of life exists because the pot is stirred; When stirred, one plays off against the other in a binary fashion, simple appears complicated as the picture … Continue reading If I die tonight

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Letting Go..

Steve Rowe

Pick up a stone and hold it in a clenched fist; There are 2 ways to let it go; You can turn your fist palm down and let it go so it drops to the ground; Or you can turn your fist palm upwards and unclench letting it rest in the palm of your hand. People that have been hurt emotionally, Sometimes say they are going to be Buddhist; And practice ‘non-attachment’ so they don’t get hurt again; This is not the Buddhist approach; In fact this is aversion and will bring the same pain as desire. To develop an … Continue reading Letting Go..

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Mass Slaughter

Steve Rowe

I have been kept in prison; Forced to take drugs, Forced to have sex; And my children were slaughtered. When I become useless to my captors; I too will be killed. The terrorists have no compassion, They say everything is for the ‘greater good’. Their leaders manipulate them, They are constantly taught to have no compassion for me; If they want to be fed, They must torture and kill me and my babies. The mass slaughter should end; One day compassion and kindness should rule, Respect and equality for all should be normal; But I fear that day is a … Continue reading Mass Slaughter

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Inside Out

Steve Rowe

How do you want people to treat you? Then treat them the same way. You want respect? Then give it and earn it. You want people to see you as a good martial artist? Then work hard and become one. You want respect as a martial arts coach? Then act like one. You want to be treated as an adult? Then behave like one. You want the coach to teach you well? Then be a good student. I study people and most can’t see the obvious. They complain about their treatment, That they’re not treated with respect, That they’re not … Continue reading Inside Out

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I See You

Steve Rowe

I see you…. Because I meditate and practice neigong, I see you, I see the savage beast when the mask slips, Maybe only for a second, But I see you. I also see the angel, When you have pure altruistic compassion, When you really care; When your caring is free from fear or pity, When there is no desire for an end result, That’s when your angel is looking through your eyes. My unfettered mind see’s how you wear your body; The tension borne from fear, The bowed head, the lazy slouch, The jutting chin and darting eyes; The deepest … Continue reading I See You

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A Walk In The Woods

Steve Rowe

Today I went for a walk, Well, actually a shuffle; The ground was uneven, With 14 surgeries on my legs, I can barely move. Everyone passed me by, But I had the advantage; I could see everything they missed, I could hear what they didn’t, I could smell and taste what they couldn’t. I felt sorry for them; I had constant pain to let me know, That I was alive; I was grateful to walk, Grateful to be alive. I hadn’t smelled the earth for years, The moisture from the rain and river on my skin and tongue; The woody … Continue reading A Walk In The Woods

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The Eyes Of The Dead

Steve Rowe

The first shovel full of earth hit the lid of my coffin; My dead eyes stared at the other side; So that was it, another vehicle worn out: And what had I done? We all know we’re going to die; But we push it to the back of our mind; And behave like we’re going to live forever; But each day leads us onwards; To that one inevitable end. Another sod hits the coffin lid; My body has expired; Because I’m not ‘me’ anymore; I see everything in a different light; My perspective has already grown. In the back of … Continue reading The Eyes Of The Dead

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A Golden Cage Is Still A Cage

Steve Rowe

A Golden cage is still a cage… If you are an adult, And someone else tells you what you can and can’t do, What you can and can’t wear, Where you can go and who with, You are a prisoner. If you have to ask their ‘permission’ to do anything, When I hear ‘I’d love to go/do/wear that, but my wife/husband/partner won’t let me’, Or ‘I’ll have to ask the ‘boss’, All I hear is ‘I am a prisoner and am too scared to free myself’. There are no bars on their cage and yet their fear is their prison. … Continue reading A Golden Cage Is Still A Cage

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The Softest Touch

Steve Rowe

  I am a ghost, a wraith; Passing through life with the softest touch. I own nothing and no-one; Anything bought belongs to the Earth; And any person loved is completely free. I am only here to learn; I stand on the line between life and death; Free to love, cherish and enjoy; To embrace pain and suffering; To understand how one creates the other. By not blundering, not ‘forcing’; But stepping back and yielding; Only using the softest guiding hand; To bring imbalance back to the Tao. Stiffness, clumsiness and ego; Trying to prevent or force intention; Only bring … Continue reading The Softest Touch