Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Cavafy (poem)
I like to study the pictures of poets and write poems in response. Here is one I wrote today on the famous Greek poet Constantine P. Cavafy, who lived from 1863-1933. Cavafy was very well versed in the classics, and many of his poems reflect this background. He was also a homosexual, and some of his poems are erotic in tone.
I sometimes have reflected that "coming out" as a mystic, particularly as one who has experienced kundalini, is comparable to the process of "coming out" as a gay or lesbian. Both kundalini and homosexuality are little known to certain segments of society and both are often viewed with suspicion. Both are often hidden from the world at large, for people frequently are loathe to reveal their intimate lives to an unsympathetic and uncomprehending world. Often there is no one to share the experience with. Many times when one does share this deeply personal experience with others, he or she is met with disbelief or misunderstanding.
However, generally, the one living outside the mainstream in these ways feels the rewards of fully claiming his/her identity are well worth the price (possible rejection and disapproval) which society may exact.
Both paths reveal the continuing mystery of human experience.
Cavafy
Oh, Cavafy,
petulant, erudite,
sensuous, withdrawn.
.
How reticent you were
to yield
to what your body
demanded.
How reluctant to let
that hidden feeling
flow into words.
Each syllable so precious,
infused with longing.
In the end
you could not deny it,
and so you wrote.
I sometimes have reflected that "coming out" as a mystic, particularly as one who has experienced kundalini, is comparable to the process of "coming out" as a gay or lesbian. Both kundalini and homosexuality are little known to certain segments of society and both are often viewed with suspicion. Both are often hidden from the world at large, for people frequently are loathe to reveal their intimate lives to an unsympathetic and uncomprehending world. Often there is no one to share the experience with. Many times when one does share this deeply personal experience with others, he or she is met with disbelief or misunderstanding.
However, generally, the one living outside the mainstream in these ways feels the rewards of fully claiming his/her identity are well worth the price (possible rejection and disapproval) which society may exact.
Both paths reveal the continuing mystery of human experience.
Cavafy
Oh, Cavafy,
petulant, erudite,
sensuous, withdrawn.
.
How reticent you were
to yield
to what your body
demanded.
How reluctant to let
that hidden feeling
flow into words.
Each syllable so precious,
infused with longing.
In the end
you could not deny it,
and so you wrote.
