Postcards from the Dreaming

Somewhere in between

Arapahoe — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:09:00 GMT

We went up to the top of the highest hill And stopped Still It was just so beautiful It was just so beautiful It was just so beautiful This is where the shadows come to play ‘Twixt the day And night Dancing and skipping Along a chink of light Somewhere in between The waxing and the waning wave Somewhere in between What the song and silence say Somewhere in between The ticking and the tocking clock Somewhere in a dream between Sleep and waking up Somewhere in between Breathing out and breathing in Like twilight is neither night nor morning Not one of us would dare to break The silence Oh how we have longed For something that would Make us feel so… Somewhere in between The waxing and the waning wave Somewhere in between The night and the daylight Somewhere in between The ticking and the tocking clock Somewhere in between What the song and silence say Somewhere in between Breathing out and breathing in The Chorus : Goodnight sun Goodnight sun The sun : Goodnight mum ~ Lyrics by Kate Bush

Kucinich NOW in the House!!! Dropping 35 articles of impeachment against George Duhhbya

Arapahoe — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:40:55 GMT

Ohh how I love this man...nothing but pure heart... pure integrity... You can watch the impeachment proceedings live on C-Span. Or, if you don't have cable, you can catch it on the internet at http://c-span.org You Tube also has segments of it- see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLf-URIyHv4&feature=email Good websites to watch for updates and actions: http://kucinich.us

Poetry for the children

Arapahoe — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:56:24 GMT

Birth Ritual New being, new citizen of the world, new carrier of cloud wisdom and moonstones, new flame of the universe, new eyes of animals too old to see beyond their footprints, new repetition Of old ideas that people thought had died long ago, we stand before you, ready to protect your small breath of life, ready to teach you songs, ready to help you plow the fields cluttered with our mistakes. Your Recent journey affirms our faith in ancient circles. You are the voice of us who tried to change the world. You are the continuity of seasons and migrations, the best or worst of all that has gone before. New being, The ancestors are depending on you to surprise them. Little one, our prayers for you come with love and heartbreak. The world you enter is dangerous and filled with imbalance. Knowledge comes from experience, not from Easy answers. Resist those who would have you blindly follow them, dear child of buffalo and hawks, ladybugs and fireflies. Turn instead to the rhythm of waves, the pattern of grass, the shape of clouds, the music of raindrops, and the color of autumn leaves. Strong Mountains and saplings await you. The tongues of animals are anxious to speak to you and the river is eager to teach you dance. Learn from the vagaries of winds, the honking of geese, the dance of trembling leaves, and the way that shadows mystify. New being, this all you will need to be at home in the world. New being, this all you will need to recognize your song. -Nancy Wood, Shaman's Circle

Our foremothers

Arapahoe — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:23:15 GMT

The ancient teachers demonstrated their realization of the Way. These ancient teachers were often women. They were mothers and sisters, aunts, and grandmothers. They meditated. Through their relationships, they taught the art of being. Because they meditated, their depth made them seem inscrutable and their wisdom profound. The truth is, they simply knew how to be human. They observed behaviors and acted with precision and care, never acting recklessly. They behaved with dignity and grace and won the respect of others without trying. They respected others and treated children as human beings. They were strong yet yielding, like ice ready to melt. They were simple, like the uncarved block of wood. They were receptive like a valley between high mountains. They were full of life and involved in their families, yet they were able to be still and become and clear as pure water. These ancient grandmothers did not need to go away into caves or forests to become enlightened. They were enlightenment itself. -Vimala McClure, The Tao of Motherhood

On natural childbirthing

Arapahoe — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 06:49:54 GMT

I'm pregnant, near birth, and all I can say is that the day-to-day experience has been an absolute living wonder that has brought many moments of great joy. Expressing how it feels energetically to carry a little being inside your belly is near ineffable. The day-to-day changes of the body combined with the effort to mentally, emotionally, and spiritually prepare, have catapulted me into a state of deep surrender. On this living journey, the map is drawn while traveling the road, and trust in the higher self has been a vital ingredient. As I ground into pregnancy, birthing, and mothering, I find many old energetic layers, including; previous mothering lifetimes, and previous great hopes and wishes for the health of Mother Earth and all life upon her. Digging yet further, I find and confront my fears, both new and old, some of it understood, other parts not. Such fear is o.k, as it is part of the whole. I seek to honor it and embrace it. As I’ve journeyed these months of pregnancy, inspiration and learning have come from many source. The writings of midwives Inna Mae Gaskin and Raven Lang, amongst others have been deeply inspiring. On reflecting upon the natural birth experience, Raven Lang writes: “Birth is the strongest force a woman normally experiences. If there is a harmony with this force, your body and mind will enter into a different state, one that surrenders totally to natural forces. The face loses self-consciousness; it is a quiet state, gentle and profound. Sometimes I think the ease of a birth has to do with complete surrender to nature; an acceptance of being part of something greater than the individual self, like a beautiful spring, or the first heavy rains, or the sounds and rhythm of the sea. Labor and birth are a matter of believing, trusting, and listening to your instincts- a matter of getting close enough to yourself and to the information you are receiving from your body. You must rely on yourself. You can't rely on anyone else, a coach, a teacher, mate, etc. They are not receiving the stimulus or the information you are receiving. I do not mean to de-emphasize the importance of coaches during labor. I simply do not think that they can do if for you because they can't. Their support and love vibrations are invaluable and make it possible for more than just yourself to share in this most beautiful act of love, the joyful bringing forth of life...Tune into labor. Unfold your inherent birth knowledge. Use your own rhythm, get behind it and don't have your mind someplace else. Most important of all, don't have your mind in any time dimension except the present. Don't slip into the past and don't rush into the future. Accept each contraction one at a time just as you accept the sun rising each morning, without question, one day at a time. A factor in labor is the intense sensation. It is beyond the expectations of anyone who has never given birth. This intense sensation is simply a part of the whole, and when there is no fear, it simply is. It is nothing more, nothing to be afraid of, nothing to waste your time and energy fighting against." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~Birthing Affirmations~ I birth with gratitude I birth with blessing I birth with joy The wisdom of my body guides my birth The intense pulse of sensation I feel, reflects my body’s strength and knowing I give myself over and surrender to the Great Mystery, to All That Is With each laboring breath, I am connected and communicating with the Great Primordial Energy Field and All that Is By breathing in the universal energy and rooting my core to Mother Earth, I center myself in nature’s power and flow With each breath, I breathe white light; I stream white light This dear child and I move rhythmically together, surrendering to the rise and rush of ocean tide and the eternal NOW As I breathe in and out, I breathe the love and power of two souls traveling as one I birth with the assistance of ancestors, angels and star family I birth with gratitude I birth with blessing I birth with joy

Voices from the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers

Arapahoe — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 19:46:16 GMT

GRANDMOTHERS TELL US YOUR WISDOM from http://www.worldpulsemagazine.com/issues/2/grandmothers_tell_us_your_wisdom "Nature Speaks Secrets" By Bernadette Rebienot, Indigenous grandmother of the rainforests of Gabon, West Africa Since we are invoking a world healing, we must ask, "Is the world sick?" Unfortunately we are bringing up this topic rather late in the game since this immeasurable organism called Earth is already beset with gangrene. Our planet is sick from the never-ending ravages of people, pollution, deforestation, abusive power, jealousy, and hatred. The Earth suffers from horrific wars that transform people into monsters and destroy what is human. These wars leave behind orphaned offspring who are ripped from their families-families that are precious to us. Then there are the pandemics that we all face: AIDS, malaria, cancers, and other plagues. This great sickness is exacerbated by famines, by galloping poverty; by the death of ideas and of cultures, and by a disdain and rejection of the Other, which signals the return of all forms of discrimination. The Earth suffers, humanity is threatened, we are disoriented, we have lost our way. Nature has been speaking to us for some years now and manifesting her anger in her perfect and terrible expression-catastrophes of the air and water, deadly fires and heat waves. By violating the laws of Nature, we are bringing punishment upon ourselves. I have been in service to humanity since my youth as a traditional practitioner and a healer. Where I find life is in the forest. In the forest, I still know how to become one with a landscape rich with thousands of mysteries. In the forest, my feet touch the earth every day. However, my journeys are not about enclosing myself in the solitude of the forest. The forest doesn't absorb my being. Instead, it permits me to capture the secrets of the invisible, of which we are the trustees. I believe these secrets will soon become precious compasses for humanity. By listening to the secrets of the forest, I've used remedies made from plants to treat the maladies of my patients. These secrets have taught me to accept the Other and our differences. They have taught me about the fragility and the infinite smallness of humanity, the vanity of our excesses, and the ephemeral nature of our existence. They have shown me the force of peace and of united families. For the last several decades, the forest has taught me respect for humans and for nature, respect that is cruelly lacking in our world. Perhaps this is why many who have tasted such wisdom and respect come from far away to see me in my African forest. Humanity must also understand that we cannot continue to walk "on one leg" in our daily life. We must take into account the visible, invisible, and spiritual dimensions of the world because two plus two doesn't always equal four. Whether this takes the form of meditation in America, a platform of world solidarity established in France, or teachings drawn from our African rituals, there is a spiritual message that remains the same. Humanity must enter into reconciliation with nature if we wish to come upon a new reality, a new alliance. The great initiates of Africa understand the very core of their forest, the language of the trees, of the rivers, and of the birds. They understand the essential and mysterious language of nature that speaks to us. Those who are keepers of the knowledge of hidden things, the "luminaries" and the initiates of the world, must transmit this knowledge to the new generations because everyone needs two legs in order to be balanced. Our true equilibrium rests on the existence of the physical and spiritual bodies. Humans constitute the link between all the particles of the universe that crisscross and fill up space. Our ultimate horizon is not bounded by the visible world but dives deep into the sacred universe, into the unity and dynamism of a Great Whole of which only certain parts are visible. There is a submerged part of the iceberg waiting to be discovered and revisited. We are cosmic beings. Today's civilization has been cut loose from the essential roots that formed humanity. We are destroying and polluting nature. The people of the future will no longer be those who believe exclusively in logic, in the reign of numbers and capital, but rather those who have understood that the net of tomorrow's society resides in respect and consideration for the Other. Such respect would mean that dialogue would replace war. "Joining Prayers" By Agnes Pilgrim, Indigenous grandmother of the great forest of the American Northwest It is exciting to be making history by venturing into the world praying to make a difference. However, there are still many things that I don't talk about as I'm afraid the Creator will quit helping me. In the beginning, my people could become invisible, shape change, and talk to the animals. I believe what happened is that they began to abuse their gift so the Creator stripped it from them. So, I try to be careful. I travel to a lot of different lands being a "voice for the voiceless." All things created need a voice. I am called to pray for the Bengal tigers, for animals in Africa, for wolves, for salmon, and for the Ganges River in India. I went to Australia to pray for the Murry Darling River and its pollutions. I prayed for the Condors and now they are coming back after being gone for over 200 years from Oregon. My tribe sends me to areas that need prayer or blessings. They send me to christen a ship, to burial places, to testify for monuments, and to fight for special plant life. I've been called to lead prayers to stop clear-cut logging and to lobby in Washington, DC, to save our Siskiyou Monument here in Oregon, which has plant life that grows nowhere else in the world. So far we've succeeded. We will continue to struggle to save some of our beautiful spiritual places. The prayers will help. I'm the oldest living female left of the Rogue River Indians, who lived in Southern Oregon for over 20,000 years. As a registered member of my tribe, The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, for many, many years I have served on tribal committees always fighting for cultural and traditional improvements. My children and I are all traditional First Nation natives and we "walk our talk." I've been at death's door; I have survived cancer since 1982. I asked my Creator to let me live because my family needs me and I've got a lot to do. I said, "if you let me live, I'll keep busy the rest of my life." And I'm certainly doing that! Years ago when I was about 45, I experienced a restlessness. This sensation was not only present in my waking hours but also in the dream time. There was a force pulling me toward a spiritual path. I was told to cleanse my inner self. Ultimately, I did what I call a "dying to self." But first I fought this inner-calling, thinking I wasn't worthy to do it. Looking back, however, I can see where I began to change. I started to fly around and I went to all my six children and asked them to forgive me for any hurts I caused them. I asked them to voice anything they wanted to me. I told them how much I loved them and that I would pray for them. I know I made mistakes as a parent. Yet I still hadn't committed myself to walk this "spiritual" path. I was still arguing with my Creator. Finally one day my friend, who is a psychiatrist, told me to stop fighting this path and resign myself and just do it. So, I did. It was like a big load was lifted off of me. Handed down from my people was a story that the only duty left to us from the ancient ones was the duty of prayer, so I became a prayer person. The Creator has answered many, many prayers and I give blessings for allowing me to be a mediator. Prayer is needed throughout the World. It is time we step forward and join prayers with people around the globe. Together we can stop the abuse of women and the molestation of children, hunger, overgrazing, the lack of protection for our medicinal plants, and drug abuse. We can join together no matter what our religious or spiritual beliefs are. We can join together and fight to save our Earth Mother and salvage our own existence. It is time to take action now if we want to help all our relations. We need not for one moment limit ourselves about what we can do. We must give support and encouragement to each other and to whomever we meet on our path. Love people unconditionally and add their voices and prayers to ours. People need to be encouraged to use their voice. The Creator will hear our cries and turn the dark side around. Yes, we have a lot of work to do to have harmony and peace. We have many goals set before us but we can accomplish them by working together. Together we have gifts to bring by teaching what is sacred. We are all in this "leaky canoe" together so we need to be a united force to be reckoned with and we will keep on keeping on until our "hearts are on the ground." Aho! "Being Honoring" By Flordemayo, Indigenous grandmother from the highlands of Central America For me, there has never been a question of what I came to this earth to do. I have always understood my purpose through my personal dialogue with the spirit of the ancestors through visions and dreams. I was raised learning to translate dreams. It was imperative in my family. Whether they were positive or negative, it didn't matter. Even if they foretold of a death or an illness, I learned to receive the messages in a way that was honoring and respectful. The Grandmother's Council was already written in stone for me. I had heard about it through the prophecies of the Mayan people, and I had also been given a direct vision that the Council was going to come together. I chose to accept a role at the Council because I felt that there are so many of us around the world that have lost the touch of "basicness" between the earth and the sky. Women now carry more toxins in their bodies then they ever have. All the chemicals from daily creams and shampoos are being transmitted through breast-feeding. The first cup of milk children have from their mother is already full of sanitary napkins and deodorant. Hope springs from the re-teaching of people on gardening and survival. I have been working towards re-introducing people to the teachings of medicinal plants. We are re-learning how to take care of the Mother Earth. In doing so, we allow the spirit of the sacred plants and the sacred waters to heal us. In essence, we are re-empowering ourselves. For those of us who have forgotten, we are re-learning the teachings so that our grandchildren and their grandchildren to come do not forget. I really believe that the earth and the elements have the capacity to mend themselves. It might not be done in our lifetime, but everything takes its course. We live under a sacred law: Life is a circle. By being in the present, we are also in the past and the future. Nothing is unseen and there is always a reason for things that happen. I believe that our global healing is possible. But like everything else, it is going to take a whole bunch of believers to do it. I am not a healer, but a mediator for healing. I am just a conduit of a massive amount of energy, and I allow it to travel through my body and present it to the person looking for healing. When people come to me, healing only takes place if they have already surrendered into a healing space. When people come with incredible faith, I have noticed instantaneous healing. The best way to continue to heal ourselves is to honor our free spirits. In honoring that, we become forgiving and when we become forgiving, we become understanding, and when we understand, we become honoring, and then we can move forward with our lives. Moving forward means that we have also mended the circles of the generations of the past. We are always brought into the present to mend generational breakage of the sacred circle. We can also respect our traditional practices and integrate them into our modern lives. I feel that traditionalism is a little bit restrictive. And that is okay, but for myself, I do not like to love my creator without any freedom. I don't consider myself a traditional person, but a universal person. Instead of abiding by rigid rules, I want to be free in my heart. It is possible to integrate the traditional and the modern by opening our hearts and allowing the teachings of the cosmos to enter our daily lives. Ultimately we all have to find our own individual way. We can find it by stopping, being silent, and being honoring. It will take us a lifetime to do that. But it is imperative. (As told to World Pulse's Global Editor Ramya Ramanathan) ~~~~ "We are in unity here, the elders with the young ones, and all around us and above us and under us, we're breathing unity right now. I pray that this unity continues to happen in circles everywhere, that people all over become one again." MARGARET BEHAN, Red Spider Woman, a Grandmother from the North American Plains ~~~~ "We are standing in the vibration of a sacred prophecy. The prophecy tells us that consciousness is preparing the spirit of the feminine, the spirit of the grandmothers. In the prophecy, we shall walk into the light united from the four directions." FLORDEMAYO, indigenous grandmother from the highlands of Central America ~~~~ For more info on the International Council of 13 Indigenous Grandmothers, see their website, http://www.grandmotherscouncil.com/

In the middle of the river

Arapahoe — Sat, 03 Jun 2006 05:46:24 GMT

Whirling Whirling Whirling Huuuu! Huuuu! Whirling to our centers Ah ewwww! Whirling to the center Hooooowwwwwwh! Wheuuuuooooouuuuuuughhhhhhh! The salmon nation is countering the current The salmon people are leaping from the current The salmon nation is juuuuMPiiing Returning from the deep, Re-birthing the mystery Whirling with the heart of the Earth Through time and space Whirling with the heart of the Earth Through time and space The owls sit in a tree that holds root in the middle of the river, on the isle of the sandbar The owls sit in a tree that holds root in the middle of the river, on the isle of the sandbar Calling Great Spirit, Calling Hu Hu Hu E x p a n d i i I i i n n n n n g E x p a n d i i I i i n n n n n g The wahhhhhhhhter is ruhhhshhhhing through us The wahhhhhhhhter is ruhhhshhhhing now The owls sit in a tree that holds root in the middle of the river, on the isle of the sandbar The owls sit in a tree that holds root in the middle of the river, on the isle of the sandbar We ride the water, as protectorates of the deep Protecting the water, as we dive deep The wahhhHhhhter is ruhhhShhhhIng through us The wahhhHhhhter is ruhhhShhhhIng now We are flowing We are flowing through Greeting rock spirit with “Howshhhhhhhhhhh!” “aEwwwwww” “Howshhhhhhhhhhh!” “eAghhhhhhh” We move with Earth spirit Dancing to her heartdrum The owls whisper, we are whirling for you, Great Spirit Hu Hu Hu!

Prayer to the Wind

Arapahoe — Sat, 06 May 2006 00:47:40 GMT

May I be guided by the Great Mystery. May I have the presence, strength and humbleness of heart, spirit, and mind to always listen and herald her call. May I walk in balance with my highest self. May my resonance on this Earth be of great love. May I authentically and open-heartedly flow, connect, share, and exchange love with all beings. May I walk in my song in such a way that I walk in freedom. May I have no desire, but know only what it is to be moved. May I create each and every moment with great awareness, conscious that I am simultaneously affecting future and past realities. May I hold sacred the knowledge of the dream worlds and the vastness of the love that is there, and utilize this gift to assist Mother Earth and all beings. A Ho Mitakwyse.

Maori Hongi

Arapahoe — Sat, 29 Apr 2006 06:29:37 GMT

From Wikipedia.org Hongi is a traditional greeting in New Zealand. It is done by pressing one's nose to another person at an encounter. It is still used at traditional meetings among members of the Maori people and on major ceremonies (every New Zealander). In the hongi (traditional greeting), the ha or breath of life is exchanged and intermingled. Through the exchange of this physical greeting, you are no longer considered manuhiri (visitor) but rather tangata whenua, one of the people of the land. For the remainder of your stay you are obliged to share in all the duties and responsibilities of the home people. In earlier times, this may have meant bearing arms in times of war, or tending crops of kumara (sweet potato). When Maori greet one another by pressing noses, the tradition of sharing the breath of life is considered to have come directly from the gods.

the Journeyman

Arapahoe — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 04:49:34 GMT

The journeyman walked. He walked to the place of the no place. The journeyman walked. He walked through the place of the no place. When he got there, he was empty. There is nothing, but walking. The journeyman walked. He walked into the night sky. Then he sat down, and the stars came around him. Then he sat down, and the stars came around him. The stars spoke to the journeyman. They said, "we know you and we honor you". The stars spoke to the journeyman. They said, "we will help you". 'When you're out night walking, let us hold you. When you're out night walking, let us hold you." The journeyman walked and the stars held him. The journeyman walked and the stars held him. When he walked, the journeyman thanked the stars. When he walked, the stars blessed the journeyman, blessed the journeyman, blessed the journeyman. There is nothing, nothing but walking, walking, walking, walking, walking. ~Lyrics by Zuleikha

Dreaming Rilke's "Silent Friend of Many Distances"

Arapahoe — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 19:48:55 GMT

My dreams continue to offer their own lifeblood. And, beautiful dream guides, bestow gracious gifts~ The following poem of Rilke, I had never heard or read before, despite the fact that I've read much of his other poetry. But, I saw it in a dream weeks back, and afterwards searched and found it on the internet. I printed it and have it sitting on my table. It seems to be whispering in the air, still wishing to be shared~ Silent Friend of Many Distances, Feel Silent friend of many distances, feel how your breath enlarges all of space Let your presence ring out like a bell into the night. What feeds upon your face grows might from the nourishment thus offered. Move through transformation, out and in. What is the deepest loss that you have suffered? If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine. In this immeasurable darkness, be the power that rounds your senses in their magic ring, the sense of their mysterious encounter. And if the eartly no longer knows your name, whisper to the silent earth: I'm flowing. To the flashing water say: I am. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

We are the flow

Arapahoe — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:16:13 GMT

We are the flow We are the ebb We are the weavers We are the web -Shekhinah Mountainwater

In Sacred Mystery

Arapahoe — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 20:33:33 GMT

Exploring deep within our hearts' inner pathways, we find the sacred mystery~ Al-Latif. We doubledream, and in the creation we awaken by our inner senses and feelings to our true selves. Our Khabir, or inner awareness of the mystery, grows~ playing song and painting picture through the subtle centers of our body~ the heart, the throat, the third eye, crown chakra, solar plexus, sexual center and root. In lovesong of the multidimensions, we find our ecstatic selves. With lessons of our dreaming, and through boundless sacred love and knowing of oneness, we root our dreamtime here, Home, during this Earthwalk.

Thirty-two and just discovering Erica Jong

Arapahoe — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 22:20:53 GMT

The Muse Who Came to Stay You are the first muse who came to stay. The others began & ended with a wish, or a glance or a kiss between stanzas; the others strode away in the pointed boots of their fear or were kicked out by the stiletto heels of mine, or merely padded away in bare feet when the ground was too hard or cold or as hot as white sand baked under the noonday sun. But you flew in on the wings of your smile, powered by the engine of your cock, driven by your lonely pumping heart, rooted by your arteries to mine. We became a tree with a double apical point, reaching equally toward what some call heaven, singing in the wind with our branches, sharing the sap & syrup which makes the trunk grow thick. We are seeding the ground with poems & children. We are the stuff of books & new-grown forests. We are renewing the earth with our roots, the air with our pure oxygen songs, the nearby seas with leaves we lose only to grow the greener ones again. I used to leap from tree to tree, speaking glibly of Druids, thinking myself a latter-day dryad, or a wood nymph from the stony city, or some other chimerical creature, conjured in my cheating poet's heart. But now I stay, knowing the muse is mine, knowing no books will banish him & no off-key songs will drive him away. I being & begin; I whistle in & out of tune. If the ending is near, I do not think of it. If the drought comes, we will make our own rain. If the muse is grounded, I will make him fly, & if he falls, I will catch him in my arms until he flies with me again. Sleep I love to go to sleep, When bed takes me like a lover wrapping my limbs in cool linen, soothing the fretfulness of day glaring like the Cyclops' eye in a forehead of furrows. But I wake always reluctantly, brushing the dreamcrumbs from my lids, walking sideways underwater like a crab spilling coffee, knocking the mug to the floor where it shatters in a muddy river to my continuo of "Shit, shit, shit!" What if death is only a forgetting to wake in the morning, a dream that goes on into other corridors, other chambers draped with other silks, libraries of unwritten books whose kaleidoscopic pages can be read only by the pinneal eye, music that can only be heard by the seventh sense or the eighth or ninth, until we possess an infinity of senses-- none of them dependent on flesh? What if our love of sleep is only a foretaste of the bliss that awaits us when we do not have to wake again? What frightens us so about falling? To drop the body and fly should be as natural as drifting into a dream. But we are insomniacs tossing on soaked sheets, hanging on to our intricate pain while God with her sweet Mona Lisa smile sings lullabyes the ears of the living cannot hear. To My Brother Poet, Seeking Peace My life has been the instrument for a mouth I have never seen, breathing wind which comes from I know not where, arranging and changing my moods, so as to make an opening for his voice. Or hers. Muse, White Goddess mother with invisible milk, androgynous god in whose grip I struggle, turning this way and that, believing that I chart my life, my loves, when in fact it is she, he, who charts them-- all for the sake of some as yet unwritten poem. Twisting in the wind, twisting like a pirate dangling in a cage from a high seawall, the wind whips through my bones making an instrument, my back a xylophone, my sex a triangle chiming, my lips stretched tight as drumskins, I no longer care who is playing me, but fear makes the hairs stand up on the backs of my hands when I think that she may stop. And yet I long for peace as fervently as you do-- the sweet connubial bliss that admits no turbulence, the settled life that defeats poetry, the hearth before which children play-- not poets' children, ragtag, neurotic, demon-ridden, but the apple-cheeked children of the bourgeoisie. My daughter dreams of peace as I do: marriage, proper house, proper husband, nourishing dreamless sex, love like a hot toddy, or an apple pie. But the muse has other plans for me and you. Puppet mistress, dangling us on this dark proscenium, pulling our strings, blowing us toward Cornwall, toward Venice, toward Delphi, toward some lurching counterpane, a tent upheld by one throbbing blood-drenched pole-- her pen, her pencil, the monolith we worship, underneath the gleaming moon. This Element Looking for a place where we might turn off the inner dialogue, the monologue of futures & regrets, of pasts not past enough & futures that may never come to pass, we found this boat bobbing in the blue, this refuge amid reefs, this white hull within this azure sibilance of sea, this central rocking so like the rocking before birth. Venus was born of the waters, borne over them to teach us about love-- our only sail on the seas of our lives as death is our only anchor. If we return again & again to the sea both in our dreams & for our love affairs it is because this element alone understands our pasts & futures as she makes them one. -Erica Jong

Arapahoe — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 21:47:57 GMT

Bright bright! bright bright bright! bright bright! bright bright bright! bright bright, the moon! -Myoe

Ode to Maria Sabina

Arapahoe — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 05:02:26 GMT

I am her sister says She is your daughter says She is your spirit shield says I am the eagle's wound says I am the medicine bird's vision and freedom says She is the sweet breathe of lovers in their water born alchemy says I who take spirit husband says She who makes love to the wind says I sensing the divine connection between grandmother braids and pinecone spiral says She who laughs at herself says She who pontificates to the grass and then suddenly remembers to wait for the silence of conversation says She who dwells in the thatched lodge says She who expresses without form says I am space-time-dimension traveller says I am a keeper of the female medicine bundle says She with peacock feathered, violet lined eyes says I am pathfinder says I am long wing feathers as I fly says I am anti-matter craddling creation says I am old crickety one says, I am dream awakening one