The Blank Page and
With Each Breath

By David Norling

The Blank Page

Cleared of the clutter of hand-me-down desires
The blank page appears
Full of emptiness, boredom, and hunger

Some call it spaciousness
But only after the gnawing abates
There’s nothing to be done about the boredom and hunger
Only wait

The waiting is faith and hope
Faith that there’s more
More out there
More in here

Hope for something new
Surprising and unpredictable
The predictable is always available
Dependable
Saccharine

The blank page is dependable, too
Ruthless and cruel
It mocks and taunts
Woos and seduces

Like a projector screen
It receives, mirrors, and reveals
But it also opens like a door
A locked door
Keyed with patience and attention

There are no guarantees
You will find what you find
Maybe the detritus of an un-lived life
Or a few clues
Weighed down with dubious promises

Nevertheless
The blank page opens up tomorrow
The only other option
Is more yesterday’s
Or the day before

With Each Breath

The body dies and resurrects
Every seven years
After mites eat the cellular dust
What remains?
Only longing
Unquenchable, constant

Like lungs grasping for air
Saturated then poisoned
We must exhale and begin again
The desire to take the breath
That ends all breaths
Is a suicidal desire
Neverendingness is life and lure

Those who warn
Against longing
And offer law in its stead
Settle for stale air
Having forgotten that Life itself
Can be trusted
And draws us indirectly
But definitely forward
With each fresh breath

Vivere memento

About The Author

David Norling
David Norling thinks of himself as becoming. The contexts within which the process of becoming takes place includes activities like owning and operating a carpet cleaning service, waking up with sentences that sometimes become poems, or apocalyptic aphorisms, and slow/walk/soaking in places of natural beauty. David dreams of Shalom and looks for opportunities to inspire others to consider possibilities that they’ve never imagined.  He collects his poems, musing, and other writings in a website: awestruckdumbpilgrim.com

Re-sources

Re-Imagining Education

Empowering educators to take a deeper look at the stories told in our schools and to re-imagine them in transformative and
nurturing learning spaces.

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Learning Opportunities

Classes, workshops, and lectures that help to empower people to re-imagine who they are and their place in the world.

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Books

Books written by
Re-imagining authors

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CWP

The Chicago Wisdom Project offers a alternative to the industrial and corporate models of education that have become increasingly prevalent in the American educational landscape.

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