social commentary
There's a rich history of poetry serving as social commentary, intended to inspire calls to action.
Pillars and Poetry of the Mindful Warrior
Pillars of the Mindful Warrior The Weapon of Positivity: Stein emphasizes using an unbreakable positive mindset as a primary tool to confront severe life hardships, including his own successful battle against lymphoma. [1, 2] Samurai Mindful Breathing: Drawing inspiration from Bruce Lee and samurai philosophy, he advocates for reverse abdominal breathing and "Samurai Breathing" to remain deeply relaxed under pressure. A fundamental principle is that a tense fighter cannot perform well; maintaining calm allows a warrior to manage intense stress and process pain. [1, 2, 3] Mindful Movement for Healing: Beyond seated meditation, his philosophy highlights active physical mindfulness. At the Oklahoma Buddhism Conference, he demonstrated how hours of disciplined daily mindful walking and Kendo practice helped trigger cellular cancer remission after conventional medical options were exhausted. [1, 2] Fearlessness and Peace: True to the warrior archetype, the ultimate goal of this mindset is not conflict, but bringing inner peace to outer environments. Stein details using this grounded presence to de-escalate danger and defuse intimidation safely during his youth. "Dr. Wayne Stein, Professor of English, will deliver a talk titled “Resilience Against Cancer: Thriving Amidst Adversity” on April 14 as part of the TEDxUCO series. Dr. Stein will discuss the ways in which he has used the path of the mindful warrior and the weapon of positivity to overcome painful adversities while battling cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Stein learned how to be aware of pain and to practice mindfulness through his lifelong practice of martial arts; a tense fighter cannot fight well, but the mindful practices of Bruce Lee helped Dr. Stein, who is now cancer-free, to win his battle with lymphoma and to overcome the tremendous pain that it inflicts. Dr. Stein now works to teach others about mindfulness as a way to overcome adversity."
By SAMURAI SAM: Wild Wayne2 months ago in Poets
Wet Pennies
wet pennies is what I really want to say, wet on a tongue maybe, or blood, the scent of wet pennies, a sensation of sharp metallics— short lived on a tongue like the live end of a battery—it wouldn’t be mine, its all been said before. These days many people will never know that scent of wet pennies. The courage it takes to leave one tails up on the ground, then wonder for days if good luck had been picked up. The hundreds of millions of hands they’ll never know. The hands that have freely touched a single penny or kissed the mouths of those who have once tried. Once, I stopped following, it didn’t matter I was locked in—the algorithm had me regularly sending your bullshit whether I liked it or not cursory scrolling time, there’s always trees I thought, there’s always the sky I thought too, a sky with an almost white moist lime ceiling trying to decide between dew or rain before dawn. Lime, the ceiling I used to lay beneath. Who for a minute would have ever thought a penny could become so cliché? A metaphor for value in 1989. On the ground you’d pick one up — Copper Lore mixed with dimes, nickels, and quarters for a cup of coffee. In line behind aged beauty with shaking hands counting out all the pennies to pay, sent from an angel, a god, to Love. 1989 a humble farmer from the Soviet Union refuses to send tanks to Bornholmer Straße a handful of peace held high—and hope. He then allowed the wall to come down.
By Gerry Thibeault2 months ago in Poets
