Tuesday, July 26, 2011
What to Thlnk of Before Dying (poem by Dorothy)
What to Think of Before Dying
It could be a list of things--
things done and undone,
wills and thank you letters,
the cruise to the Greek Isles.
Or a catalogue of
best moments--
say when you stood
on the high mountain
at Mesa Verde
and saw the whole world
spread out
in a great circle beneath you
and for a few minutes
you knew how an eagle
must feel,
to soar above it all,
and you almost took off
then and there.
Or entering the cave
at Carlsbad when
you were twelve,
the enveloping mystery,
the all consuming darkness
when they turned
the lights off.
How could anything,
even darknes
be so ultimate?
Or standing there,
waiting to enter the spiraling mounds
at Tara,
the sweet energies
floating up out of the ground
through your very legs
and into your body.
Tasting the sacred.
And then there was the other,
the moment of revelation,
the one too deep to write about.
And you wonder
if it will follow you
as you go,
be your guide,
like a lantern held
by an invisible hand,
your own particular small
pillar of light
showing direction
into the arriving
wilderness
as you wait
in wonder.
Dorothy Walters
July 26, 2011
(Photo of Hill of Tara found on the internet, showing circular rings)
Note: Tara (about an hour outside Dublin) has been known in more recent centuries as the chosen place where the great Kings of ancient Ireland were crowned. However, many insist that before patriarchy, Tara was the holy ground of the Great Mother, and that the various circular rings of earth are in fact the chakras of her body. From what I felt there, I would agree with the latter--the sacred energies still flow through the earth and into the flesh and bones of the visitor. It is clear why this spot was held to be special , for you can still tell by the very vibrations it gives off that it is sacred ground.
