As Breath Defines Constriction (Solar Wind)
The snake swallows itself, integrating the opposite. Or, illustrating the
nature of earthquakes, encourages conjecture.
Wind meditation. The practice of circling mountains, of emptying oneself.
Matter accelerating away from the sun. The prickly pear on the roof.
The Tendai monks of Hiei run 40 kilometers each day for 100 consecutive days.
Only then may they petition to complete the thousand-day trial.
Coronal mass ejections temporarily deform the Earth’s magnetic field.
I sweat while driving to the store for cold beer.
The heliopause is the point at which the solar wind’s strength is no longer
sufficient to push back the interstellar medium.
No matter its destination, a comet’s tail always points away from the sun.
At which point does one hear the sound of sunlight entering stone?
They must complete the thousand-day challenge or die. To this end,
each monk carries a knife and length of rope on his journey.
A map is simply paper. Solar wind, cord of death.
Stones in the path, quivering earth. Eyes focused ahead.
***
“As Breath Defines Constriction” is included in The Circumference of Other, my offering in the Silver Birch Press publication, IDES: A Collection of Poetry Chapbooks, available on Amazon.
O at the Edges 
Question, if I may: If a comet’s tail always points away from the sun regardless of its destination, does that mean that the ultimate destination of all comets is the sun?
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If the snake is swallowing its tail, I suppose so. 🙂
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Ok, :-). Thank You!
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While awed by the monks’ 1000 day commitment, I find this trial’s consequence extremely harsh. Clearly I’m not monk material, but I can think of multiple interferences beyond any monk’s control that could preclude finishing a given day’s 40km …
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I suppose it takes an amount of commitment that I’m certainly incapable of. Eek.
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You have asked an invoking question Robert, I am now wandering my pathway and putting my ear to the rocks and listening for their sound……
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They’ll share their secrets with you, Ivor. I’m certain of it.
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A rock for the ages
Listening to her pages
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