Wind is “the Gentle.” It is flexible, free, unrestricted. It represents the advance of one season, the retreat of the next – the birth of Spring, the prime of Summer, the decay of Autumn, and the death of Winter. It is the messenger, dispersing the order of Heaven across the Earth, penetrating all hearts and minds. Take note of your breath, feel the Wind slowly swirling inside your lungs. Patiently, let go of your control and give your breath over to the Wind. Let your breath breathe you. Feel the ease, the perfect resource boundlessly coming and going, nourishing your body, heart, and mind. You have arrived, you are here. This is the greatest accomplishment that any human can achieve – the rest is just chasing after the Wind.

For the poets in the room, you may take on additional challenges if you so wish:

• Wind Cadence – Use the rhyme scheme ABAA for your verse(s).
• Wind Rhythm – Use a syllable pattern of 577 for your verse(s).
• Wind Flow – Use a rhyme scheme of ABAA with a syllable pattern of 6566 for your verse(s).

Please feel free to share your results in the comments or link back from your own site – I look forward to reading your creations!

Keep reading to see three examples from me.

• Wind Cadence
  the gales stole me away from you
  for I could not make up my mind
  so many pleasures on the menu
  too many tails to pursue
  ·
• Wind Rhythm
  round and round again
  sunrise, sunset, pass me by
  fire chases after breath
  ·
• Wind Flow
  to enter heaven’s gate
  you must be the leaf
  as you were at age eight
  gently dancing with fate

© Rylan Skelly, February 2019

Photo by Dawid Zawiła on Unsplash