{"id":5733,"date":"2017-04-14T08:42:00","date_gmt":"2017-04-14T15:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=5733"},"modified":"2017-04-14T08:42:59","modified_gmt":"2017-04-14T15:42:59","slug":"jay-ramsay-in-the-end-the-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2017\/04\/14\/jay-ramsay-in-the-end-the-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"Jay Ramsay – In the End: The Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the End: The Beginning
\nby Jay Ramsay<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There is something in the end there is no avoiding
\nThat is more present than breath, than self, than distraction
\nMore present than this moment? Yes, even that \u2014<\/p>\n

Even than all those birds perched high in the Tree of Heaven
\nThat broke into all your wondering \u2014 even than
\nThat huge exotic shrine at the centre of your heart,
\nYour voice, your whole face turned inward\u2026
\nOr mine now \u2014 as I cut it back, back
\nFrom my thoughts: to my being; then my breath
\nAnd then, not even that<\/p>\n

And across the gulf of silence from before
\nNames, images \u2014 before whiteness was even born \u2014
\nAnd now, at the heart of emptiness
\nWhere there is no I, nor breathing even
\nOr only this suspended pause<\/p>\n

\u2018There is only Love that made us, only Love\u2019
\nAnd you in the vast silence like an ocean without water,
\nLike rain before rain \u2014
\nlike an unbroken mirror<\/p>\n

You in the Womb of Love.<\/em><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Hidden-target<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I thought perhaps this poem today in anticipation of Easter.<\/p>\n

And across the gulf of silence from before
\nNames, images \u2014 before whiteness was even born \u2014<\/i><\/p>\n

A contemplation of endings, of death, and how, within that void, is a nameless something\u2026<\/p>\n

And now, at the heart of emptiness
\nWhere there is no I, nor breathing even
\nOr only this suspended pause<\/i><\/p>\n

A core essence that remains that is whole and unwounded.<\/p>\n

\u2018There is only Love that made us, only Love\u2019
\nAnd you in the vast silence like an ocean without water,
\nLike rain before rain \u2014
\nlike an unbroken mirror<\/i><\/p>\n

It gathers itself, ready to be reborn.<\/p>\n

You in the Womb of Love.<\/i><\/p>\n

Have a beautiful weekend. And if you celebrate Easter, may it be a time of rebirth and renewal, allowing what you have outgrown to fall away while welcoming new life, new possibility, new purpose, and new spirit.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Jay Ramsay<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nDiamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nPlaces of Truth: Journeys into Sacred Wilderness<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nOut of Time<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nKingdom of the Edge: Poems for the Spirit<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Jay<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nJay Ramsay<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

England (Contemporary)
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Jay Ramsay is a British poet and psychotherapist.<\/p>\n

He has been on the poetry scene over the last 25 years as a voice for transformative spiritual, political and psychological awareness. He has been described as \u201cEngland\u2019s foremost transformation poet\u201d (Caduceus magazine, 2007). He believes that poetry has a unique, catalytic role in our culture.<\/p>\n

Jay has edited poetry for Kindred Spirit (1997-2004), Caduceus (2002-), and More to Life (2006). More recently he has been poet-in-residence at St James\u2019 Church, Piccadilly in London (2005-6).<\/p>\n

Anamnesis is now available on CD (recorded with Tibetan bowls) from www.lotusfoundation.org.uk, the website also has the texts of the 16 poems, written monthly over the period.<\/p>\n

More recently he has completed a residency in the Sinai desert for the Makhad Trust (March 2010) with a sequence of poems and photographs (see www.makhad.org) which will be published and exhibited, and also for the church at North Stoke near Bath (July-August 2010) for Martin Palmer at ICOREC\/ARC. www.arcworld.org<\/p>\n

Jay Ramsay has written many individual collections including Kingdom of the Edge (New & Selected Poems 1980-1998; Element Books, 1999), some classic Chinese translations Tao Te Ching, I Ching, Kuan Yin; Element, 1993\/HarperCollins, 1995), and two acclaimed prose books about alchemy (1997 and 2005), he has also edited four anthologies of New British Poetry: Angels of Fire \u2013 an anthology of radical poetry, commissioned by Andrew Motion (Chatto & Windus, 1986), Transformation \u2013 the poetry of spiritual consciousness (RGP, 1988), Earth Ascending \u2013 an anthology of living poetry, 55 Contemporary British Poets (Stride, 1997), and Into the Further Reaches \u2013 an anthology of Contemporary British Poetry celebrating the spiritual journey (64 poets: PS Avalon, 2007).<\/p>\n

His latest collections are Out of Time, Poems 1998-2008 (PSAvalon), The Poet in You (O Books) and Places of Truth (Awen).<\/p>\n

More poetry by Jay Ramsay<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the End: The Beginning by Jay Ramsay There is something in the end there is no avoiding That is more present than breath, than self, than distraction More present than this moment? Yes, even that \u2014 Even than all those birds perched high in the Tree of Heaven That broke into all your wondering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2062,1088,2063,1069,2064],"class_list":["post-5733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-beginning","tag-easter","tag-end","tag-jay-ramsay","tag-womb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5733"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5735,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5733\/revisions\/5735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}