I was stripped down
to essential nothing -
no roles, no scripts,
no centrality in anyone's life.

There was no reason to life,
there was just life -
Zen being, Zen nothing.
All duality shattered.

An abyss entered
became a cathedral
of splendid black
and white, stark reality
blended into a transparent
scuplture of fire
and ice that filled life
with a slow pulse,
a background accompaniment
to the beat of the heart,
steadies its course and pace
through the long night.

Survival was the accomplishment,
is the ungoing triumph.
Attention is the hard won lesson,
it's my life, I must pay attention.