Twenty-Five Words Toward the Truth: #25Wtt

By Skip Maselli

The pages of #25wtT can be read in any order. Each page features one poemette, containing exactly 25 words. The wayfaring reader is encouraged to find a poem, be still, and ponder for a while. Use #25wtT as a bridge between the heart and the mind.

Reading #25wtT is like an old wine in a new wineskin. It is rich with lovely, evocative mystical insights, put into a format that is engaging, contemporary, and profoundly personal. Theres something about the brevity of these poems that cuts right to the heart of the matter... and our own hearts. Highly recommended for all spiritual seekers, particularly those of the Sufi tradition.

Dr. Omid Safi, Duke University

Skip Maselli is that rare world citizen artist; an All-American son of Hafiz whose reflections dont just synthesize what is highest and truest from East to West, but elevate him even more. I recommend this gifted poets writing with one proviso, prepare to be haunted by it.

Maureen Seaberg, coauthor of Struck By Genius: How A Brain Injury Made Me A Mathematical Marvel (HMH, 2014)

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 11, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504968584

Skip Maselli

Skip Maselli lives in northern Virginia, but resides somewhere between earth and heaven. Raised in the rural areas of southern New Jersey, far from the turnpike, he left for more remote parts of the earth, ending up in the most amazing places, from Korea to Europe, from Australia and the Pacific Rim to Turkey and southwest Asia, and points in between. Skip has been writing and reciting his poetry, prose, quips, and vignettes since he was 11 years old. The genre of his writing delves into various ontological explorations of mysticism, divine and human love, spiritual awakening, and socio-cultural and interpersonal musings. Indeed, you might find Sufi undertones in his writing. His first book, “Twenty-Five Words towards the Truth (#25wtT)” was published in March 2016. Skip received his bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College with a focus in geology and philosophy, a combination that at the time made perfect sense. After receiving his master’s in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin Skip served in the military, which provided him yet another view of the world. As an offset to his current career in business development for a large corporation he remains an impassioned reader, thinker, and deep listener. Many of his views have been shaped as a competitive swimmer and triathlete and spiritual explorationist. He is still called “Daddy” by his highly creative and gifted daughter Camerin, fifteen, and her wisely inquisitive brother, Aidan, twelve who lost their mother three years ago. His work and play reflect a life of inward travels, long drives, short phrases, small disappointments, big lessons – all flavored by serendipity, loving partnerships, and God-sent children and friends.

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AuthorHouse™

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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© 2016 Skip Maselli. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 03/10/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5049-6857-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-6858-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016903914

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Divine Inkling

Mind Is Lumber

Who Is Poet?

My Own Reflection

Shadow Company

Poems Lost at Sea

I Hear Thunder

On Beloveds

Who You Are Is Everything

The War on Errorism

Lost in Translation

You Are Predator and Prey

You Can When You Can’t

Love in the Balance

Signs of the Wayfarer

The Teacher Who Knows You

The Phoenix

The Gambler

Seeing with the Heart

Earth beneath Feet

Thunder Distantly

Trifling Lips

Reality of Truth—Truth of Reality

Illuminusions

Curiosity Ushers in Reason

World on My Tongue

One Last Gaze

He Is, Therefore I Am

A Bridge between Them

The Key Is Locked in Its Vault

An Army of Loners

Of Conquest and Surrender

The Necklace Maker

Lion’s Dreams

Combustible Lovers

Tears that Bond Us

Eternity Unraveled

Reassembling

Perpetuity of Illusion

The Tack of Our Path

The Lovers Inhale

The Cane

Out to Sea

The Lover’s Whisper

Sojourners’ Exchange

None, but One

The Pain of the Thorn

Everything Is Everywhere

Surrender of Vision

The Poet’s Flame

Implements of Prayer

The Hearts of Children

Preempted by Idleness

Rose of Honesty

Love, the Racehorse

Another’s Hope

Skin of Lips

Handholds of Youth

Seal of Trust

Forgetting to Remember

Stirring the Depths

Instruments of Self-Observation

Loud Birds

The Pause

Path beneath Our Feet

Absence Desires Us

Invention and Art

Each Word a Metaphor

The Measure of I

One Divine Channel

Wisdom Says Nothing

The Ocean in Your Tears

Where is Shams Tabrizi?

Pawns of Pronouns

The Thirsty Pauper’s Pen

The Door to