kintsugi

The theme of this summer has been… imperfection. Wabi-sabi. Broken pots and cracks. After all, that’s how the light gets in. And the gold, the honey, mending gold. This poem came to me through a friend, a mystic poet and fellow student of the Diamond Approach. I’ve been carrying it around, as a balm for sorry days.

One night, in my friend Dan’s basement we ended our music session with a short improvisation, this is what came out, inspired by Gerry’s poem:

Kintsugi

I am one

Of the broken

Ones whose

Heart was

Mended

With gold

~ Gerry Grubbs

And not just this poem, but another teaching that my friend Beth Patterson, a fellow mystic singer and prolific song catcher, shared with me : “Let sorrowful longings dwell in your heart. Never give up, Never lose hope. Allah says, “The broken ones are my beloved.” Crush your heart. Be broken.”  -Saikh Abu Saeed Kheir

(Here’s her powerful chant based on this teaching. One day maybe we can all sing it together and let the gold glitter and pour down through our song. And do its mending.)