Michael D. "Stew" Stewart

A small boy drives
      A hundred ducks to the lake
      With a tasseled stick:
            A most of excited white.

A small boy can command an entire flock of ducks with a slender stick. The ducks go contentedly down to the lake to play in the mud. In the end, of course, they end up as someone’s dinner.

They obey the stick because they respond to their conditioning. In truth, they don’t need to obey it. They don’t need to be someone’s meal. As for the boy, he is doing his job, but he does not own the ducks in an ultimate sense. He exercises his power over them, and they respond, yet neither realizes their bond is provisional.

Ownership of property is only an artificial construct as well. If can remember that ownership is something that exists only by definition, then we can give up possessiveness, defensiveness, and greed. What does it matter how much money or land you say you have? You cannot actually own it.

You don’t even own your own body. Ultimate ownership would mean total control. You would never age. You could make it as beautiful as you wanted. You would never suffer from accidents. But the fact is that we are all imprisoned in flesh that ages, decays, becomes diseased, and can be destroyed by some rather minor accidents. You don’t own your body. You live in a borrowed shell. Why not seek the truth that goes beyond the body?

      They call her useless
      And yet push for achievement.
            “I want a baby.”
      They bicker between themselves,
      And reproach her for being distant.
            “My friends have so much fun.”
      They dwell on money,
      And indenture her to loyalty.
            “I can’t stand this every day.”
                  She is innocent.
                  They have ambitions.

There was a girl who was both a good student and a good athlete. Her family did not find that to be enough. They pushed her to spend all her time studying or practicing for her next sport competition. Finally, she could stand it no further. She ran away.

Her family was firmly convinced it was a kidnapping.

In so many families, a girl is told how useless she is. Is it any wonder she gets pregnant? A boy is told how lazy he is. Is it any wonder he rebels as an act of individuality?

When parents demand without understanding, they thwart development. Forcing children to fulfill parental ambitions destroys individuality. Before parents blame their children, they should first look to how their daughters and sons were raised.

Anything is subject for a poem:
A catalog of boxing equipment, a collage of other poems,
Serpentine trail of incense, raised deer fur, old shoes pointed pigeon-toed,
Glass and steel cityscape, almond eyes of a saint, weeping of tiny flowers,
Sunlight on whitewashed walls, blue shadows of stooped women,
A spring mousetrap, a trickle of blood in the gutter,
The homing swoop of a gull, chill white-capped bay, scent of eucalyptus.
Green lawn of broken blades, clods of fat earth.
Anything is subject for a poem.

Even in sleep, write a poem.
When waking, write a poem.
While loving, write a poem.
Even voting, write a poem.
When angry, write a poem.
While dreaming, write a poem.

The sages say quite seriously that those who wish to know Tao better should cultivate the poet in themselves.

Fog chills heaven to gray.
Nights come earlier.
Everyone knows decline,
But few discern its border.

Although it is summer and there are many warm months to come, it is possible to sense the heavens are already turning downward. Nearly imperceptibly, the fruit is ripening the trees and the nights are lengthening once again. It is too early to talk of autumn, and yet the next season is on its way.

Why do we never prepare for decline? We all realize it is a valid phenomenon – we know about the fall of empires, the aging of heroes, the lessening of our own skill – but we are not always aware of its approach. We often realize too late we are in a period of decline, and so we are unprepared. It takes a wise person to perceive the moment when things begin to change.

Summer does not fade away in a day. Our actions must accord with the times. Just as the decline of summer is gradual, so too should our actions be commensurate with the pace of change. Even though decline may be approaching, we must gauge how quickly or how slowly events are moving. If we are too hasty – like someone who notices the first cool breeze and immediately dons winter clothing – we will be overreacting. It is important to think of decline as something natural and inevitable. Therefore there should be no emotional values attached to it. It simply happens, and that is all.

Sun in heaven.
Abundance in great measure.
Supreme success
In the midst of impermanence.

The midday sun in summer is the hottest and brightest of all. It symbolizes a zenith, a fulfillment, a period of great brightness. In the affairs of people, it stands for the combining of strength and clarity, which yields brilliance. When the times are in accord, abundance cannot be opposed.

The period of abundance is a time for vigorous action. Bright light shines not only on the good but on the bad as well. Therefore, when evil is revealed, all good people must oppose it. Pluck it out by the roots and energetically promote the good.

Abundance is a cause for celebration, but followers of Tao also remember to be cautious. No zenith can be preserved forever. In fact, the time of abundance just precedes an inevitable path of decline. Nothing in life is permanent. Therefore, the wise person enjoys and is gladdened by abundance. But while they take advantage of the time, they also prepare for what will follow.

Magic doesn’t work in this new place.
Native poetry has lost rhythm and rhyme,
Familiar food is labeled a curiosity,
And hostile stares replace familial love.
To be an immigrant
Is to be solitary in the midst of millions.

Immigrants travel from their native lands for many reasons, but in general, they all involve expectations for a better life. For this, they will risk uncertainty, exploitation, discrimination, hostility, poverty, and sometimes even separation from family. Those who survive develop an inner fortitude and determination that sees them through their suffering.

The preservation of spirituality is as much a concern as anything else. Spirituality, except in its highest stages, has a definite cultural context. (There is spirituality that takes its power from the land, culture, and time – that is why most types of magic will not work outside their native lands; there is spirituality which transcends all time and place.) Immigrants try either to maintain their native beliefs or to adopt the beliefs of their host country. The first option is difficult: They are in a culture incompatible with their native beliefs and will sustain their spirituality only if it was already strongly established. In the second case, where immigrants adopt the host country’s spirituality, they must learn an entirely new system. In either case, immigrants must cope with the problems of conflict between two cultures, until they reach a spiritual stage where cultural references become meaningless.