‘Still in Love with Life’ and Other Poems

Beloved Buddhist teacher and Reverend Dr. Larry Ward passed away on August 19 at his home in Saunderstown, Rhode Island. Remembered by his fellow teachers and dharma friends as “a poet, Buddhist teacher, sangha builder, community leader, educator, activist, and friend,” Ward’s spiritual and creative presence was a beacon of light for countless people; as a senior dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition of the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh, through the transformative work of the Lotus Institute—an educational nonprofit dedicated to healing trauma and inspiring social change that he cofounded with his wife and teaching partner, Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward—and through his words.

Later today, Tricycle is partnering with Peggy to pay homage to her late husband’s legacy and to celebrate his just-published book of poetry, Morning Night: Poems on Nature, Spirit, and Race. Released just after Dr. Ward’s passing, the book carries on his call for collective healing and his belief that peace is within reach.

Ahead of the event, Tricycle is pleased to present a selection of Dr. Ward’s poetry as a tribute to the late, wondrous “True Great Sound.”

–Eds.

Still in Love with Life

I have been hurt by dreams
tumbling down like great stones from
the mountain of hope, cracking open my heart.

Feeling like I am losing everything,
being ground up
by the world of endurance.

Tired, sad, and weary
my eyes overflowing with tears.
I find myself wrapped in clouds of doubt.

I was certain the moon stole my shoes.
I searched everywhere,
over the green countryside,

in crowded city streets,
brown deserts, the snow-capped mountains.
Even the dust of stars were empty.

Meeting fury, coursing
through pulsing veins, a silent illness
when life did not go my way.

In the softness of one holy night
the Dharma rain fell.

My head was wet with the tears of heaven.
The sky cleared.

I looked down
and discovered that my shoes
had been on my feet all along.

My pure heart and my pure mind
have not been crushed or destroyed
by disappointment and hatred.

My deepest desire
is to be a poem and live a prayer
that encourages more love in this world.

Seven

I have sat facing the wall to nowhere
for seven days,
seven years,
seven lifetimes,
in the thundering silence of my life.
Now I turn towards the water to recognize myself.
I walk in the dharma rain nourished by what comes.

Here I witness the large waves, the small waves,
and the tiny movements of life in the ocean.
I remember that I too am a wave.
I rise and fall as the ocean.
We are one at every moment.

I want to be touched and moved
by the wind in all directions,
to greet all creatures large and small,
so that I am not confused by the sunrise and the sunset
of this life on loan for a while
until I appear to vanish from your view.

A Worthy Vow

In the lake of awakening,
I find calm.
My pure heart speaks.

I look to those first assembled
at the tree of awakening
dwelling on an island of mindfulness.

Witness lovingkindness
rising from the prayers of
untold compassionate hearts.

Circling earth,
blessing all ten directions with love,
emanating light.

The breath of all beings
finds ease.
What a noble calling.

Such a vow persists and flows
through birth and death,
beating the dharma drum,
from buddha field
to buddha field,
hidden in the hearts of all.

When I Became Currency

When they came for me, I tried to contain my fear.
Heartbreak rattled my bones.
These bones longed for home but the dance of my ancestors
is still awake and alive,

sick in the bottom of a ship
becoming a dark currency.
Carried over the sea, sold and sold again, a commodity,
body of profit driven by greed, arrogance, and ignorance.

Cold and beleaguered in a new land,
I tried to forget such horror
but the looks and whispers even to this day remind me
I am a class of color created by a colonial mind
that was missing its self-worth.

I live now beyond such limiting constructs of mind.
I am free because I am not confused.
I am stardust awake.
I am the earth and sky embracing all.

I ride the wind with the eagle and the hawk.
I flow with the rivers into all oceans.
I touch the sun and am touched by the moonlight
like all beings.
I am Nature herself. Awake. Powerful. Resilient.
Generative.

I offer the love of all my ancestors to your ancestors
and the ancestors of all beings.
I offer my presence like rain falling
on the wise and the unwise,
the troubled and the untroubled,
the just and the unjust.

May wounds of time be healed.

I Am Present

I already lie in the green forest. Can you not see me there?
I am present in the movement of the trees
and the softness and hardness of the earth.
I ride on the wings of birds and speak
to fairies every night. What a wonderful rest
to be held by the Earth and unforgotten.

I already lie in the forest. Can you not see me there?
In the flutter of the chipmunks and the smiles
of the deer with their beautiful eyes, I am there too,
and at the sunrise and sunset, I say hello to you always.
When you walk on the precious Earth, remember you
are walking on me. I created in the galaxy of stars
bringing life to many beings. How can we not know each other?
We have the same mother and father.

I already lie in the forest. Can you not see me there?
The owls all night and the coyotes too
saying hello and goodbye every moment.
We too are saying goodbye and hello every moment.
How precious our moments are on this earth
in the midst of this mystery we smile
and cry in the unknown and yet known.

I already lie in the forest. Can you not see me there?
I am a raindrop falling on a leaf
nursing, all things. I am a leaf
at home in the forest singing
my song of regeneration.

I already lie in the forest. Can you not see me there?

It’s a Pity

It’s a pity
not to know
you are beautiful.

Not to know
you’ve been taught to hate.

Not to know
you have the key.

Not to know
that a gentle life has value.

Not to know
you are here to heal your ancestors.

Not to know
you are the earth’s medicine.

Mother’s Hug

In the middle of this week,
I missed my mother so much.

I wished for a hug.
Awareness arose.

My heart; her heart. Touching
in the here and now.

Not I

When the mirror no longer sees me smiling
I’m gone.
But the “not I” remains:
fire, water, earth, air, light, dark stars,
light galaxies, causes, conditions, mystery,
vivid memories, touches, voices, smiles,
faces of meaning, smells of delight.
All streams of mind, heartbreak too.

I am moved.
In every raindrop, in everything,
I look for you.
So we still can meet
In the silence of the moment.

♦

From Morning Night: Poems on Spirit, Race and Nature by Larry Ward, PhD, published by Lotus Moss Press. Copyright © 2025 by Larry Ward, PhD. Reprinted in arrangement with the publisher.