Kundalini Splendor

The Beloved Comes Home
By Mirabai
(1498 - 1565?)
English version by V. K. Sethi

The one I longed for has come home;
The raging fire of separation is quenched.
Now I rejoice with Him, I sing in bliss.

The peacocks at the cloud's roar
Dance with unbound joy;
I rejoice in ecstasy
At the sight of my Beloved.

I am absorbed in His love;
My misery of wandering
In the world has ended.
The lily bursts into bloom
At the sight of the full moon;
Seeing Him, my heart blossoms in joy.
Peace permeates this body of mine;
His arrival has filled my home with bliss.

That very Lord has become my own
Who is ever the redeemer of His devotees.
Mira's heart, scorched by the blaze of separation,
Has become cool and refreshed;
The pain of duality has vanished.

(Mirabai was one of the early saint/poets of India.  She was married by arrangement to a local prince, but was unhappy in the role of wife.  After he died, she took to the roads and became a mendicant  poet writing of her undying love for the Beloved.  (Her love object was Krishna, whom she worshipped without reservation, using traditional love imagery to express her devotion.)

Jeff Richards--My Significant Other is the Cosmos--Part 6


Yet despite this mysterious unfolding and flowering in my artwork my life and psyche crashed into nothingness, a black hole out of which I barely escaped, battered and bruised and still trailing the smoke of cynicism and doubt. I was determined, but I was injured, and I was without guidance. Perhaps it was this state of mind that caused me, on that Sunday in May, to inflate a mere coincidence into something numinous and meaningful - or perhaps, just perhaps, it was the pull of creativity, of evolutionary eros. In any case, I took it as a sign and embarked on a regular practice of chakra visualizations with the Redmond CD. Over time I not only noticed the entrainment I spoke of earlier, but also a curious sensation that I could actually feel each of the chakras as I focused on them. This caught my attention as I am not usually susceptible to suggestion - I apparently can't be hypnotized, and try as I might I just cannot see, hear or touch angels and spirit guides. So this surprised me, though I didn't take it too seriously and never mentioned it to anyone.

One morning in August I was following my usual routine of Hatha Yoga exercises, ending with the Corpse Pose, flat on my back, arms at my side. I was relaxed, feeling the gentle loosening of muscles and joints and following my steady, light breathing. Suddenly and without warning an unfamiliar electric sensation rose out of nowhere at the base of my spine, grabbing my attention. At first pleasant, it seemed to slowly expand until I became alarmed at its strangeness, thinking I may have strained a muscle in my lower back. It continued to grow, and I started to panic, certain I should get up and change position. Then a thought came to me out of the blue, a voice almost, commanding me to not be a coward, to give in to the sensation. My response was quick - what have I got to lose? At that moment a huge surge of electric nerve impulse shot up my spine and into my head. My whole body convulsed as wave after wave of the most exquisite and simultaneously violent sensations shot through me. I had no clue what was happening but I allowed it to take me, and it shook me like a wet fish. For 15, 20 or more minutes I was trapped in its grip, my body flailing and writhing and convulsing on the floor, completely beyond my control even if I had wanted it - which I can assure you, I didn't. Eventually I came to exhaustion and realized it had to stop, and with that thought...it did.

I got up and walked around, bewildered and astonished. Tingling sensations continued to ripple over my skin, my head feeling as if it had expanded like a balloon. I had never in my life experienced anything remotely like this, nor anything remotely as intense. I realized a completely unknown and shockingly unexpected door had opened and I had just passed through it. As Dorothy so famously said to her companion, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore". Indeed, everything had changed.

To be continued....

 What Darkens

What darkens inside me,
shines,
diamond at midnight,
unconstant moon.
What grows dense,
lightens,
blossoms
blown by wind.

I am the feather tossed
here and there
“on the breath of God.”

I am the shell
swept on the currents
from shore to shore.

I am open
as a cave is opened
to the winds of spring.

I am firm
as the rocks
which cling
to the weathering cliffs,
the redwood
drinking
from the secret depths.

Dorothy Walters
April 25, 2012

Stepping Westward

Denise Levertov
(excerpt)

What is green in me
darkens, muscadine.

If woman is inconstant,
good, I am faithful to

ebb and flow, I fall
in season and now

is a time of ripening.
If her part

is to be true,
a north star,

good, I hold steady
in the black sky

and vanish by day,
yet burn there

in blue or above
quilts of cloud.

There is no savor
more sweet, more salt

that to be glad to be
what, woman,

and who, myself,
I am, a shadow

that grows longer as the sun
moves, drawn out

on a thread of wonder.



~ Denise Levertov ~

(Poems, 1960-1967)

. THE ECSTACY OF ST. THERESA
http://www.blackphoenixalchemylab.com/ecstacyofsttheresa.gif

One possible explanation for aromatherapy effects:

I came across an interesting comment on the net about frankincense (one of the ingredients in my magical "Meditation Oil" solution):

"For example, frankincense contains sesquiterpenes which stimulates the limbic system of the brain (the centre of memories and emotions) and the hypothalamus, pineal and pituitary glands."

Chinese doctors sometimes use  a few drops of frankincense applied to the skin to stimulate the above systems.

And from other sites I read of a woman who said that frankincense stimulated her spiritual energies, which she described as akin to but not identical with sexual energies.

And, finally, on one site frankincense was described as a magical substance with properties of an aphrodisiac.

Whatever it may be, something in my meditation oil is quite delightful--perhaps it is the frankincense stimulating the limbic system (the pleasure centers) with the result that spiritual energies are released in a delightful manner.

Viva aromatherapy!

Spring Azures

In spring the blue azures bow down
at the edges of shallow puddles
to drink the black rain water.
Then they rise and float away into the fields.

Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy,
and all the tricks my body knows―
the opposable thumbs, the kneecaps,
and the mind clicking and clicking—

don’t seem enough to carry me through this world
and I think: how I would like

to have wings—
blue ones—
ribbons of flame.

How I would like to open them, and rise
from the black rain water.

And then I think of Blake, in the dirt and sweat of London—a boy
staring through the window, when God came
fluttering up.

Of course, he screamed,
and seeing the bobbin of God’s blue body
leaning on the sill,
and the thousand-faceted eyes.

Well, who knows.
Who knows what hung, fluttering, at the window
between him and the darkness.

Anyway, Blake the hosier’s son stood up
and turned away from the sooty sill and the dark city—
turned away forever
from the factories, the personal strivings,

to a life of the the imagination.

- Mary Oliver

Note: Blogger has now created a new and "better" blog, with the result (for me) that I find it very difficult to post a new blog (finally managed somehow) and could not find any way at all to post an image from iphoto to go with it.  I have sent out for help and hope to improve in future.  As so often happens, the computer technocrats are so busy adding features that they forget about the basics

My investigation into aromatherapy as an access to the subtle body continues. This morning, once again, I circled each chakra holding my 'Meditation Oil" bottle from a distance of 4-5 inches, and once again each chakra was awakened as bliss. I have often something similar (but not awakening the chakras) without the aid of the herbal essence, and have simply assumed I was "stroking the aura." So--is this the same or is it something different? I don't know and wish--as always--I had someone to explain all of this for me.

And--as once or twice before--I started with the lower chakras and worked my way up--something I never could do in the past (just followed the energies wherever they led). I was especially glad that the throat chakra opened (place of difficulty in past years). But had little luck with the heart chakra--long a point of difficulty. The energies got softer as I progressed upward--and I didn't feel much in the third eye and little or nothing at the crown.

Whatever this is, it is quite wonderful. I think it is part of the "expansion of consciousness" that is happening to so many these days. I believe still in Rupert Sheldrakes' theory of "morphic resonance"--this theory posits that once an energy field gets established, more and more will participate in it with greater ease. I now have two old friends (from a small circle of truly close and beloved folk) who are beginning to experience K. awakening. I think that somehow their knowing me and observing my process has given them encouragement to "go and do likewise." Probably that is part of my assignment--to be an encouraging example for others to follow this path.

What a lucky gift, to be allowed to participate in such a wondrous 'evolution of consciousness."

If You are Seeking Allah
by Shah Latif

If you are seeking Allah
By Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai
(1689 - 1752)
English version by D. H. Butani

If you are seeking Allah,
Then keep clear of religious formalities.
Those who have seen Allah
Are away from all religions!
Those who do not see Allah here,
How will they see Him beyond?

Let us go to the land of Kak
Where love flows in abundance,
There are no entrances, no exits,
Every one can see the Lord!

There is no light nor day
Every one can see the Lord!
Those who love the Lord
The world cannot hold them.
Palaces do not attract them,
Nor women nor servants
Nothing binds them:
The renouncers leave everything behind.

A message came from the Lord:
A full moon shone
Darkness disappeared
A new message came from the Lord:
It does not matter what caste you are
Whoever come, are accepted.

Where shall I take my camel,
All is Light...
Inside there is Kak, mountain and valley,
The Lord and the Lord: there is nothing but the Lord.


-- from The Melody and Philosophy of Shah Latif, by D. H. Butani

Found on Poetry Chaikhana

The Illumined Tantric

The body is such a
private place . . .
Would you let just anyone
enter this temple,
explore its hidden precincts?

Better to follow the will
of the subtleties that
sustain it,
the gentle currents
that flow like drifts
of air
across and within
its hallowed recesses.

Dorothy Walters
April 14, 2012

Down

The Titanic is going
down again,
oaken dining tables
sliding across the floor,
wine glasses shivering,
cutlery doing an impromptu dance.
husbands in tuxes glancing
with alarm
at the wives in mink and diamonds.
the whole world suddenly tilting
to one side
like a tipsy sailor.

Below,
worried mothers
are trying to silence
their excited babes
they brought from another country,
their mates
pounding on the locked
gates above, crying,
Let us out! Let us out!

On deck,
the small ensemble
plays bravely on,
while the hands are trying
to figure out
how to get the life boats
lowered,
there must be a way,
surely there is a way

Dorothy Walters
April 14, 2012

Kali's Bazaar
Penned by Kalidas

"The book is magnificent, epic!! It, in brief lines of prose and deep inspiration, exposes the eternal truth and perennial philosophy naked to the world. It is a book that can be read in an hour and must be studied for a lifetime to reveal the astonishing truths hidden in its pages.
Kali's Bazaar contains a distillation of the essence of all the world's mystery and ecstatic traditions.
Embrace the light streaming from its pages!"
Curtis Allen, author of Quantum Christ


In this collection, Kali Das (servant of Kali) offer us the distillation of a lifetime of spiritual seeking and devotion. Each poem glows with the iridescent spark of that sacred essence left in the alchemist’s dish when all the dross has been sifted away. Yeats used the phrase “when naked to naked goes” to describe such moments, when the unadorned soul unites with the Beloved in shameless adoration. These poems allow us to observe at close hand this profound process by which the mundane substance of the material self is transmuted into the clarity of the refined being, the gold of pure spirit.

For many years a monk in India, later an accomplished Jungian therapist, workshop leader, and meditation master, Kali Das (Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D.) now devotes much of his time to helping others on the path, particularly those undergoing unexpected Kundalini awakening. This is the gift he returns to the world, precious goods recovered from a lifetime voyage into the authentic self.

Dorothy Walters, Ph. D.

Yesterday I mentioned that recently when I moved my "Meditation Oil" scent in circles around my face and head, I felt delightful energies flow in the areas affected. Today, something different happened.

This time, I had an inner image to begin with, that told me (I thought) to hold the vial below my nose and be still. I did this and soon began to feel the energies stirring in the lower, rather than the upper, chakras. Now this reaction was a surprise to me, since I seldom feel energies of the lower chakras. But this response continued for some time, until I decided to see if I could move these energies upward through the chakras. And indeed, that is what happened, each one opening in delight up to my throat and third eye (I have almost never tried to move the energies in this way, rather letting the flow itself direct my attention toward the area of feeling.) True, the feelings grew ever softer as I progressed, but for me it was an unusual experience, especially to feel joy in the solar plexus, a chakra I almost never feel.

Again, this experience is a mystery to me. Perhaps many have had such responses with various essences for years, and I am just now catching up. But it is truly a moving and subtle and rapturous feeling when the subtle body opens in this way.

I was able to locate the Australian distributor on the internet. Here it is for anyone interested. I have no idea what shipping costs might be for a purchase, and also have no idea if others would have a reaction similar to mine. Somehow I feel that is not only the essence itself but the state of one's subtle body at the moment that determines the effect.

http://www.dynamohouse.com.au/shop2011 I believe it is 'Essential Oil Blend- Meditation" for that one is closest in description and also is a blend of 12 ingredients, as mine is.

Whatever it is, works for me like a magical potion.

You can also google the site under 'Meditation Oil"

The list price is $l8.95 (plus shipping, of course)

Whatever You Do

Whatever you do,
don’t waste your time
struggling with issues
about “faith” and
whether “the Other” is real
or not.

Do not worry about
your own existence--
whether you are palpable
or just a mirage
floating in a mirror.

When the worthies
begin debating such things inside
the temple,
do not bow and listen.
Run outside,
rattle the windows,
storm the doors,
let the music of light
come in.

Better still,
turn them out
into the sun,
point their solemn faces
toward the trees
blooming in fall’s
swelling luminosity,
let them see how
brilliant
is a leaf
falling gracefully
into its new incarnation,
how majestic the limbs
in their bright emerging configurations.

Dorothy Walters
(from "The Ley LInes of the Soul"

I have, of course, heard of aromatherapy, but I have never really delved into it. Once at a workshop some scents (myrrh and frankensense) were passed around, and when I got a whiff of each I felt a little tremor of delight run through my body. So I planned to buy some for further such pleasure, but somehow never managed to do so.

Recently, I decided to look into this (to me) little known area. I noticed a bottle of something called 'Meditation Oil" on my bathroom dressing table, and decided to sample it. I had no memory of where or when I obtained this bottle, but know I have had it (almost full) for many years. I took a "sniff of it" and fell immediately into rapture. It was as if my energetic body (face, cheeks, ears, head) opened in delight and all at once. I repeated the experience next day and the same thing happened.

So I decided to branch out. This time I moved the bottle in circles a few inches from my face, and each time something delightful happened--again around the eyes and ears and cheeks. It was a sensation similar to the rapture of stroking the aura.

Then, this morning, I got the flip side of the experience. At first, it was delight as before. But then it became a rather unpleasant sensation, as though a delicate hair were being dragged over my face. So I quit and began to do chi gong.

Despite the negative experience, I think of this scent as my "magic aroma". I have in the past few days tried out several other herbs and tinctures from the tester bottles in various stores, but nothing pleases. I would love to be able to order more of the "Meditation Oil," but can only read from the label that it is from Australia and is a combination of various herbs and essences.

Whatever else Kundalini does, it keeps coming up with new and unexpected experiences. Always there is something new, something fascinating. 'It never ends."

I think that aromatherapy at its best affects the very subtle levels of the energy body. It is amazing when it works. Again, I think this is a pointer of what will be available to us all as we transform into states of expanded consciousness. This is what expanded consciousness means--deeper and deeper connection with the mst subtle levels, that is to say the field of love which is the divine, where we are literally stroked by love, no questions asked! What a blessing!

A Philippine Healer

I have long wished I could experience a Philippine healer, about whom we have heard so much. Some are said to be able to thrust their hands inside the body to remove growths lurking there, an act that involves no risk or damage to the patient. Others are reported to achieve miracles of various kinds.

The person who set up the visit from Leoney, our healer, had himself had a malignant growth removed by such a healer several years ago and was eager to have another such experience (though he had no growths to be removed this time.) So--Leoney came to Colorado and for two days dispensed healing energies.

Our group contained some 14-20 people, and L. saw each one for about 10 minutes twice each day. The first session was intended to balance our energies, as a kind of preliminary process. I was a bit surprised not to feel anything special during either of the session of the first day, though I did notice how extremely hot her hands were--like fire, actually. The second day was different. In both my morning and afternoon sessions, I felt lovely soft bliss energies, more like what I often feel in my current practice when I am at home. Each time the sweet flowing energies made me long for "more," but the sessions were necessarily brief. During the final session, I had just reached "lift off" (feeling my own energies flow outward into the universe in bliss), when the session was over. I had not gone into the experience carrying any great health problems. Rather, I was attending partly out of curiosity and partly for a "tune up," especially with vision and hearing.

Leoney explained to our group that love itself was the major component of overall health and she herself exemplified that notion, for she was quite tender and loving. It was a joy to be her client. Unfortunately, she is moving back to the Philippines very soon to retire, so will no longer be doing workshops in this country.

At the end of each day, I felt an overall sense of well being, and a need for extra sleep. Today I felt extremely well and went out for lunch and a long walk by the creek, to allow things to "settle down" and integrate.

As far as I know, no "miracles" occurred, but people generally reported feeling healthier and more energized after their "treatments."

Because we had lots of time in between each individual session, we got to know each other rather well as we waited. I met many very interesting people--including other energy healers (for both humans and animals), a reader of the akashic records, someone who had been "abducted," someone who was apparently experiencing K. awakening, and those who were already in good shape but who wanted "more." I love folks of this kind--all unique and a bit "fringy,"--but when we are all together in this way, we know that we can safely reveal who we truly are without fear of judgment or condemnation.

Overall, it was different from what I might have expected, but still it was a valuable learning experience. Needless to say, I felt that K. itself was the underlying factor not only in the healing process but in the extraordinary experiences reported by others in the group.

Bowing

Before our time, before years that said no

when anyone passed a church and reverently

bowed, a soul somewhere might go

to heaven, just because of that bow.

And they all felt sad if a rooster crowed,

for something it reminded them of, a story

strong as the cables that hold up the world.

Nobody bows now if a rooster crows.



But maybe something you do, unknowing

or quick to react, without thought of gain’

or loss – maybe that act goes on

over mountains or oceans and finds the same

salvation for you that bowing does.

It is larger now, the church is, and the life

we are in. In it we bow to everything.

- William Stafford

TODAY

I
Do not
Want to step so quickly
Over a beautiful line on God's palm
As I move through the earth's
Marketplace
Today.

I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved.

Something has happened
To my understanding of existence
That now makes my heart always full of wonder
And kindness.

I do not
Want to step so quickly
Over this sacred place on God's body
That is right beneath your
Own foot

As I
Dance with
Precious life
Today.

~ Hafiz ~

(The Gift - versions of Haifiz by Daniel Ladinsky)

My Significant Other is the Kosmos : Part 5

Bodies in Motion: Entrainment, Entelechy and the Eros of Evolution

by Jeff Richards

In light of the unusual events of that Sunday in May I was prompted to include in my art practice the guided chakra meditation that came with Layne Redmond's book. On the audio CD an unusual drum plays a regular, lilting, almost melodic rhythm as Redmond's voice guides the meditator through a visualization of the yantra figure for each chakra, locating the inner vision at the chakra's physical location in the body. Then with the rhythm of the drums a mantra associated with the chakra is chanted 16 times. This process is repeated for each of the 7 traditional Hindu chakras, working up the body from the base of the spine to the top of the head. The entire meditation takes about 30 minutes. After following this practice daily for a short period of time I began to notice something quite remarkable - my heartbeat began to fall into resonance with the drum and chanting rhythm. It became clear that my body had settled into a state of entrainment, something I had never consciously experienced before.

Entrainment is a scientific term which has slightly different meanings in each field of science, but is basically defined in physics as "a process whereby two oscillating systems which have different periods when functioning independently assume the same period when in proximity to each other". A curious example of this phenomenon used to occur in clock shops of yore. In the days when clocks often kept time through the use of a swinging pendulum, a clock shop merchant would start his day winding the clocks up and setting their pendulums into motion, one by one. By the time he finished there would be a cacophony of sound from the assembled mechanisms, each of the pendulums swinging back and forth - tick-tock-tick-tock - but out of sequence as the result of the merchant setting them into motion randomly. Astonishingly, within a few hours all of the clocks in the shop would be ticking together, the pendulums swinging in perfect unison. This is entrainment in action. And this is what had happened in the chakra meditation. I had consciously set my breathing into synchrony with the drumming through rhythmic chanting, yet my heart, over which I had no direct control, followed suit on its own - and of course my first thought was "AREN'T I SPECIAL!!"; but then one more time I remembered I didn't have a self, so once again the affectation didn't take. What did take, however, was the conscious awareness of the phenomenon of entrainment in the body. When I brought that awareness to my studio I was in for a surprise.

My method of art production has always had a strong component of physicality, and I've always considered the interactions of my body with materiality a vital aspect of my creative process. The work of the past few years involves a kind of weaving process - I always stand as I work, a spool of thread in one hand, the leading edge of the strand in the other. I lean to the left and hook the thread, pull back to the right and hook again, the thread sliding through my fingers as it plays out on the board. I reach up and down, shoulders rotating, wrist flexing, knees bending, fingers curling and straightening. All of this happens mostly subconsciously, barely registering within my awareness. An observer might comment that I look a bit like an orchestra conductor, or perhaps a strange animal immersed in some sort of ritual mating dance. This can go on for an hour without break, bobbing and weaving, twisting and stretching. The surprise I found was this - when in the flow, in the zone, my body is entrained. And it's in this state of entrainment, this bodily state of synchrony and resonance between all of the moving parts, that channels of the unconscious begin to loosen and expand, and I literally feel myself being pulled toward and through them. The entrained body becomes a vehicle that is no longer being driven solely by me, , but is in fact guided into the unknown by invisible hands. The question then becomes, "What is it that is pulling on me, guiding me?".

This is the real mystery of the creative process, especially for the one who is being processed. Further heightening the mystery is the realization upon completing the work that you often have no clear idea how that finished product got there, nor are you necessarily certain of its meaning, You remember the intent you brought, the decisions you made both micro and macro, the movements, the materials....all of it. Yet there you are in a place you never could have imagined, even a moment ago. You've tapped into something that you can't quite explain or demonstrate even to yourself, much less articulate sensibly to anyone else. The only proof you have is the finished work.

Thinking about this brought to mind a philosophy of thought that rose in the late 19th and early 20th century known as Vitalism, which posits that there is some non-physical, non-mechanical factor that drives life. An early 20th century proponent was an embryologist named Hans Driesch who saw in his research that there are aspects of the development of life that cannot be explained in simple mechanistic terms. He brought out the Greek term entelechy (pronounced en-TEL-uh-kee) to describe an inner process somehow inherent in life that makes use of material to develop form, yet is outside of the material domain. Needless to say, this kind of philosophy was and still is discounted by most scientists, who insist everything will eventually be reduced to physical processes; and who can blame them, given the spectacular successes of science in the past 300 years, and especially in the last 100. Yet it's my experience as an artist that entelechy might be closer to the mark as a way of describing the creative process - some non-physical, non-conscious, non-personal element that is contained in the process itself, and which drives and guides it through the vehicle of the artist. Something perhaps akin to...well..that element that drives and guides the eros of evolution - from rocks to roses to Rumi.

Little did I know as I contemplated this notion of entrainment and entelchy that the chakra meditation, even as it entrained my bodily processes, had tapped me into its own entelechy, and that something entirely unimagined and unexpected was in the making.

To be continued...

The Truth of it All

Have you ever thought about
how lucky you are
to be here?
That is,
to live here at all,
on this planet
in this universe,
in the cosmos
that nobody can
really measure or describe?

They say it is a billion
to one chance
that you made it
in just this way.

You have walked about,
seen the flowers bursting forth
revealing their secret recesses
shamelessly in spring,
felt the cold chill
of wind on your cheek
in winter—
and did you love it?
did you say a little prayer
of thanks,
as the sweet scent
or the cold air
filled your nostrils
and told you you were alive?

Even if your hair turned a bit
greyer with time,
even if your eyes grew
a little dimmer each year,
even if your step was less
assured now, than before.

Dorothy Walters
April 3, 2012

Note: the following selection is not about Kundalini per se, nor is it a "feel good" entry. It is a sobering reflection on where our country is today, poised on the edge of total Fascist takeover. How does Fascism take over? By utilizing the slogans and symbols of Democracy to its own ends. How many willingly give their lives "to defend Democracy," when the results appear to be just the opposite? Aggression is aggression, by whatever name you call it. Wanton destruction of another's homeland and life is still mayhem, however you label it. We must all be wary, for forces are at work--indeed, many are operating more or less openly now--to undermine what we have long held dear as Democratic principles. Their driving motive? Good old greed, lust for wealth, an obsession that can easily lead to a society ruled by a few "strong men (and women?)" at the power centers, while the rest labor in vain to reclaim their rights.
We are indeed at a turning point in history, and fascism (rule of the powerful minority) can easily be the turn that is taken. The first step in stopping it is to become aware of what is going on at the many levels--of politics, of business, of industry--corporate capitalism, wrapped in the flag is one of the main culprits. Terry is an authentic voice speaking truth to power.

How Fascism Will Come

by Terry Ehret

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."
- attributed to Sinclair Lewis


When fascism comes, it will greet us with a smile. It will get down on its knees to pray. It will praise Main Street and Wall Street. It will cheer for the home team. It will clap from the bleachers when the uninsured are left to die on the street. It will rally on the Washington Mall. It will raise monuments to its heroes and weep for them and place bouquets at their stone feet and trace with their fingers the names engraved on the granite wall and go on sending soldiers to die in the mountains of Afghanistan, in the deserts of Iraq. It will send doves to pluck out the eyes of its enemies, having no hawks to spare.

When fascism comes, it will sit down for tea with the governor of Texas. It will pee in the mosques from California to Tennessee, chanting, "Wake up America, the enemy is here." It will sing the anthems of corporatization, privatization, demonization, monopolization. It will be interviewed, lovingly, on talk radio. It'll have talking points and a Facebook page and a disdain for big words or hard consonants. It won't bother to read. It will shred all its books. It will lambast the teachers and outlaw the unions.

When fascism comes, it will look good. It will have big hair, pressed suits, lapel pins. It will control all the channels. It will ride in on Swift Boats. It will sit on the Supreme Court. It will court us with fear. It will woo us with hope. When fascism comes, it will sell shares of itself on the stock market. It will get rich, then it will get obscenely rich, then it will stop paying taxes. It will leave us in the dust. It will kick our ass. It won't have to break a sweat to fool us twice. It will be too big to fail.

When fascism comes to America, it will enter on the winds of our silence and indifference and complacency. And on that day, one hundred thousand poets will gather. In book stores and libraries, bars and cafes, in their houses and apartments, in schools and on street corners, they will gather. In Albania, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Guatemala, Hungary, Macedonia, Malawi, Qatar, crying, laughing, screaming. They will wrap the sad music of humanity in bits of word cloth and hang them, like prayers, on the tree of life.

- Terry Ehret

Terry Ehret is a poet/writer living in Sonoma County, California. She writes beautiful poetry as well as prose such as the brilliant piece above. She offers us a "wake up call" as to what is really happening in our world. Google her on the internet to find her website (www.terryehret.com) which contains much outstanding poetry as well as prose.

(Picture of Terry Ehret found on her website)

Full Face

“Every happiness is the child of a separation
it did not think it could survive.”
Rilke

Accept it,
even when it turns to you
full face.

Do not turn away,
when it invites you
to enter into unknown embraces,
shadow realms,
breathes its breath
like a coy animal
on your unsuspecting nape.

What is entering
is what has always been,
a reality beyond
your own small
imagining,
something greater,
more profound
than your
familiar, bounded dwelling place.

Dorothy Walters

(from "The Ley Lines of the Soul")