Mama V and me on the highway,
Ocean breeze and a quiet prayer.
SeaBreeze nights, Pier 16,
One Love breakfast — I was almost there.
Dad called early, said I was wrong,
But something in my spirit stayed strong.
I walked into silence with shaking hands,
Ready to meet myself again.
I watched the lotus rise,
Disappear, then bloom again.
Teaching me Anicca —
everything begins and ends.
And I heard my mama's voice
floating through the wind:
"Michele… be happy.
Go on, be happy again."
And the lotus rises…
The lotus rises in me.
A red bird watching from the tree line,
A squirrel froze just to see.
A frog joined morning meditation,
like it came to sit with me.
Two birds brushed past my forehead —
felt like Mama and my brother in flight.
A bee met me after ginger tea,
and we danced in silent light.
A stone called out like childhood,
shiny things I used to keep.
But the precepts whispered,
"Let it go — let it be."
And when I left it for another,
the whole rock bed opened wide.
That's when I learned
Dāna lives in the act of release.
I watched the lotus rise,
Disappear, then bloom again.
Teaching me Dukkha —
clinging only brings pain.
And I heard my mama's voice
floating through the wind:
"Michele… be happy.
Go on, be happy again."
And the lotus rises…
The lotus rises in me.
In the stillness of the Cell
I met three truths of my own.
My Father —
a man in misery, not a wound.
Compassion rose in me
like morning light.
My Mother —
her voice clear as breath:
"Michele… be happy."
A blessing wrapped in love.
The Baby —
pleasant, unpleasant,
rising, falling —
teaching me the law of change.
And in that moment
I understood Paññā —
wisdom born from experience,
not thought.
By Day Ten, my heart was open,
my breath was soft and free.
Right effort, right awareness,
right understanding guiding me.
I watched the lotus rise,
Disappear, then bloom again.
And I walked out different —
lighter than I walked in.
The lotus rises…
And the lotus lives in me.
Listen to Michele sing her beautiful song The Lotus Rises