the first and last question

breath into my center and ask the very first question:
who am I?

breathe, breath, sigh, tone, vibrate from the depth of my self,
try everything and hope for an answer

the question repeats itself over and over, in every tradition the
teachers ask, the teachers purport to tell us

and the center is empty still, there is no answer in the center,
there is no there there

monkey mind fills the emptiness: to-do lists, worries, money, sex,
without the voice of desire, is anyone there?

it is empty, a great still darkness, a place to sit alone
with the great resonance, rattling and shaking me out of the center

i yearn for an empty place, for silence and stillness
i have finally found an empty place i can return to

at least for today, i am not afraid
of the emptiness, stillness, darkness

at least for today i awake and want to venture into that place
but there I am, in desiring i am pulled away from the place i desire

i awake and i desire: touch, coffee, voice, lover, shower
i awake and i desire: dust on my skin, heat, dance, sweat

are these callings from my center, or from my distraction
does it even matter, is there a difference?

good or bad, black or white, dark or light, duality strikes again
can i finally set myself free to dance naked in the center of the street?