Meditative Practice One

In the summer of 2014 I traveled with my family to London. Still jet lagged, we walked up to the Serpentine, and happened to pass the museum, where I realized Marina Abramović's performance piece, 512 hours was underway. After a short wait we all went in, into what turned out to be a gorgeously immersive experience that used various practices of meditation and mindfulness to create a common engagement among strangers. I will never forget the sight of my youngest child, age 11, her eyes closed, her ears stopped by the supplied headphones, standing on a raised platform with Abramović behind her, among people all brought into a circle, not touching, not looking, just being. Most of the following came together there.

Trataka is the practice of meditating using an image, or a candle flame. In 512 hours, sheets of paper in primary colors were placed before several chairs. Sitting in a chair, one engaged in the practice.

Meditative Practice One: Trāṭaka

The blank paper would like her story to be told,
but the blank paper is used to disappointment.

The blank paper has grown accustomed
to standing in for your anxieties,
absorbing your stare,
filling the space between the eye and mind
with recollected light met halfway,
an after image drawn over her body.

The blank paper catches your eye.

The blank paper would like you to consider
the woods and the river and the pulp mill;
would like you to consider
the work it takes to remain blank.

The blank paper is listening.

The blank paper goes for a walk on Sunday morning,
in kinship with a sky not yet up
to the task of making itself the face of the day.
She walks along the river
blissfully alone,
covered in silence and the cool grey light.

Afterwards, the blank paper no longer meets your gaze.
The blank paper is thinking of getting a tattoo.