Kundalini Splendor

Who She Is

I would not say
that She was Kali.
I would not say
that She was not
Kali.

I would not say
that She was Tara.
I would not say
that She
was not Tara.

I would not say
that She was the
Mother of All That Is.
I would not say
that She
was not the Mother
of All That Is.

I would say only,
“She is the one
who comes.”

Sometimes She
is male,
sometimes She
is female.
Sometimes She
is both
or neither.

I know Her only
by Her presence.

Her presence is
called My Beloved,
and when She arrives,
She becomes
who I am.

Dorothy Walters
December 8, 2013

(Photo by Patricia Lay-Dorsey)

May "She" come to each of us over this holiday season and bring us love, creativity, health and good fortune.
I will be off line until January 5--going to San Francisco for a date with "Her."  I will actually be reading this poem at the HerChurch on Portola Avenue on the morning of December 29.
Happy holidays and many blessings, all!!!

(The following comes from Terry Patton, host of "Beyond Awakening."  It is a followup on my previous post of Marianne Williamson's candidacy for the U. S. House of Representatives, an action that I consider of utmost importance for anyone interested in the future of this country and this planet.)

Dear Dorothy,

On Sunday, Marianne Williamson joined me for "The Spiritual IS Political-Why I'm Running for Congress". Wow! She certainly made it clear why she's a force to be reckoned with.

Marianne stands strong as a luminous committed citizen of the USA and the world. She does so in a way that doesn't just convey her deep care and intelligence, but also her fierce and formidable stand for change. Our politics are not just corrupt, but pathological. And the responsibility to change that lies with each one of us.

She may be our most eloquent, inspiring and incandescent voice for spiritually-informed political engagement. She says, "politics shouldn't be the least heartful thing we do, it should be the most heart-filled thing we do, collective expression of our most enlightened selves" and she's making her candidacy an invitation to us all to express our inner work by engaging the outer work of the mainstream political process.

To honor the seriousness of her candidacy, I raised some of the objections and tough questions that arise among spiritual progressives, and gave her a chance to persuade us all that she is the candidate right now who can catalyze a transformational shift in U.S. political praxis.

Well, she rocked. Most of us were, shall I say, convinced. It became obvious that Marianne is more than "ready for prime time". She inspired all of us who were there live. Several listeners pledged generous donations, and a fellow from New York, inspired by the joy that has come into his life after volunteering to serve after Hurricane Sandy, decided, right there during the call, to move to Los Angeles to help with her campaign! Even I was moved to offer an official endorsement.

I asked a lot of hard questions. And she answered them well. Really, you've got to hear the interview. Now, I'm writing to let you know about it and to share several invitations:

1.     Download and listen to the recording of our conversation at http://beyondawakeningseries.com/blog/archive/

2.     Donate - If every one of us wanting to see spiritual values enter our politics had the ability to donate just $5, Marianne's candidacy for House Representative would be funded.

3.     Tell your friends about her candidacy (by forwarding this email, for example) and sending them to www.marianneforcongress.com.  (This site will tell you where to send your money, including a mail address.)

And if you're inspired, especially if you live in the L.A. area, you can even volunteer.

An exciting story is just beginning to unfold; it's well worth tuning in!

To our evolution,
Terry

Now that You Have Destroyed Me

Now that you have
destroyed me,
oh, my Beloved,
what am I to do with
my life?

I try to listen
to the sayings
of the savants and
wise men,
but everything seems
like something
I know already,
and don’t need to be
told again.

I try to follow the practices
in the books,
but these are dull,
tasteless like bread that never rose--
they don’t take me
anywhere, leave me
stranded between
ennui and despair.

The Shakti, the love thrilling
the veins,
where is it?  I ask,
and turn the page.

Only when  I am with you,
my Beloved,
only when we are alone,
silence knitting us
together as one being,
only then am I
complete.

Dorothy Walters
December 14, 2013

NOTE:  the book of photos by my dear friend Patricia Lay-Dorsey is now completed and ready for distribution.  This is a major event and marks the end of a journey of many years, in order to "get it right."  
Congratulations, Patricia.  We are all impressed with your ingenuity and determination to make this book a reality.


BOOK ORDERING INFO

My book publisher, Ffotogallery in Cardiff, Wales, is currently handling book orders for my self portrait book, Falling Into Place. I am attaching their press release that gives background on the project and book. Ffotogallery also has a special webpage where updated ordering information will always be available.

To order my book, you can email Becca Thomas at becca@ffotogallery.org and she will handle your order.

BOOK SPECIFICATIONS

Designed by Victoria Forrest, the hardback publication includes 50 colour images, an artist statement and biography, and texts by David Alan Harvey, Magnum photographer and Burn Magazine Editor, and David Drake, Director of Ffotogallery.
Illustration: 50 colour plates
Binding: Hardback 108 pages
Text: English
Publication date: December 2013
ISBN 978-1-872771-98-4
200mm x 240mm landscape
Price: £20 ( US $35)

FOVEA BOOK LAUNCH

Special thanks go to Stephanie Heimann Roland and Sabine Meyer, co-directors of Fovea Exhibitions in Beacon, NY where we held our World Premiere Book Launch on November 23, 2013. I am also grateful to Tim, Nancy, Ron, Ed, Rob, Laura, Mark and all the Fovea friends and volunteers who opened their homes, hearts and hands to help everything run smoothly. The evening was enriched by having my publisher David Drake, his wife Karen, and our book designer Victoria Forrest join us from the UK. And what would we have done without Brooklyn-based electronic music DJ illich Mujica? It was his music, collaboration and energy that turned a book signing into a dance party! Grandma Techno (Patricia L-D) was in seventh heaven.

SO WHAT NEXT?

Falling Into Place, the book and project, has work to do and it is up to me to follow her lead. Last month I presented slideshows and facilitated class discussions on disability at two meetings of the "Human Diversity and Social Change" class at Eastern Michigan University. I found it most rewarding and student evaluations made it clear the feeling was mutual. Prof. Ann Rall promises me there will be more such invitations next semester.

On January 30, 2014, the Grosse Pointe Public Library will host a Michigan book launch and slideshow presentation of Falling Into Place. It will be open to the public. On February 24, I will attend the formal opening of an exhibit of prints from Falling Into Place at the Central Michigan University library, followed by my being guest lecturer as part of the Clarke Historical Library Speaker Series. The next day and a half, I will be available to collaborate with CMU departments and students. In August-September 2014, Swords Into Plowshares and Peace Center Gallery in downtown Detroit will mount an exhibit of prints from Falling Into Place. We will be planning events and forums on disability to coincide with the exhibit.

If you have ideas for other presentations, university/school classes, community gatherings and/or exhibits, please let me know. Have book, will travel!

With warm wishes,
Patricia

Patricia Lay-Dorsey
Website: http://www.patricialaydorsey.com
Email: playdorsey@comcast.net
Mobile: 313-410-0454
Skype: patricialaydorsey
Instagram: patricialaydorsey
Detroit, Michigan USA
.........................................................................................................................................................

FFOTOGALLERY PRESS RELEASE

5 December 2013



Patricia Lay Dorsey

Falling into Place

New Ffotogallery book offers a fascinating and moving insider view of living with a disability.

Ffotogallery, the national development agency for photography in Wales has collaborated with Detroit based photographer Patricia Lay-Dorsey to produce a unique publication Falling into Place, which challenges our assumptions about disability and how it impacts on our ability to enjoy a rich and fulfilling lifestyle. The book, which was launched at the end of November 2013 in Beacon, New York, is a legacy project of Diffusion 2013, the first biennial Cardiff International Festival of Photography.

Lay-Dorsey was diagnosed with chronic progressive multiple sclerosis in 1988, and in 2008 began taking self-portraits with the intention of showing from the inside the day-to-day life of a person with a disability. The photographs chronicle the struggles and achievements of the artist as she learns to accept the limitations of her body and celebrate her abilities rather than her disability.

Taken together, the images build a compelling narrative about the artist's daily life which is both moving and offers a fascinating insider perspective. The project has won international awards and been featured on the NY Times Lens blog, Newsweek Japan, Slate Magazine's Behold blog, CBS News, ABC News and The Daily Mail (London) online.

Designed by award winning book designer Victoria Forrest, the hardback book includes 50 colour plates, and is published in a special limited edition of 1000 copies. Falling into Place also features an artist's statement and biography by Lay-Dorsey and texts by David Alan Harvey, Magnum photographer and Burn Magazine Editor, and David Drake, Director of Ffotogallery and Diffusion.

As well as being a beautiful document in its own right, Falling Into Place is an invaluable resource which will be distributed to schools and and disability rights organisations in the UK and USA. Lay-Dorsey and Ffotogallery last month launched a Kickstarter campaign to help contribute towards the printing and distribution costs of the publication. The campaign aimed to raise $5,000, but achieved 104 backers in 30 days raising a total of $7,065.

David Drake, Director of Ffotogallery, comments

“Ffotogallery is very proud to be publishing Falling into Place. In these self portraits Patricia has succeeded in producing an eloquent illustration of a life lived with disability, which will resonate far beyond the usual photographic audience. I am not aware of an artist in any discipline who has tackled this powerful subject as well as Lay-Dorsey. In documentary photography terms alone this is a remarkable autobiographical project that speaks beyond the purely literal to more universal concerns”.

For further information or to order a copy of the book please contact Rebecca Thomas, Marketing Officer, at becca@ffotogallery.org or +44 (0)29 2034 1667.


Notes to Editors:


Ffotogallery

As the major force for contemporary photography in Wales, Ffotogallery is recognised as the forum for contemporary debate and a focus for new developments in British and international photographic art. As a national organisation, its view is naturally outward looking, with an exhibition programme featuring photographers from Wales and the rest of the world. Ffotogallery seeks to widen its range of influence through touring exhibitions, collaborations with other organisations and galleries, through publications, and an expanding education programme. In 2013 Ffotogallery launched Diffusion, a new biennial Cardiff international festival of photography, which takes place in venues across Wales’ capital city.

www.ffotogallery.org

About the Artist

Born in Washington, DC in 1942, Patricia Lay-Dorsey brings her training as a social worker (MSW, Smith College School for Social Work, 1966) and over three decades as a visual artist to her work as a photographer.

Patricia’s self portrait project, Falling Into Place, was awarded 3rd prize in the 2010 FotoVisura Grant for Outstanding Personal Photography Project. It took a 1st prize award at the 2013 Photo Annual Awards in Prague and was exhibited during the summer of 2013 in the Final Wall Gallery Exhibition in Teplice, Czech Republic.

Falling Into Place had solo exhibits at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts (January 17-March 3, 2013), and at Fovea Exhibitions in Beacon, New York (April 13-July 7, 2013). It has been featured in Newsweek Japan and New Mobility Magazine and on the New York Times Lens blog, PDN Photo of the day, Visura Magazine and Burn Magazine, among others.

Patricia Lay-Dorsey’s website is http://www.patricialaydorsey.com

BRIGHT STARS


for Irina Kuzminsky


The bare pavement-side trees hung
with sparkling blue Christmas lights like stars.

Finally you come. From the other side of the world, again
a miracle in manifestation: and we talk
chairs adjoining at the table’s stained brown corner
as the tavern noise builds around us. What are we doing ?
Dreaming on, for poetry in a world
that needs it, but can’t quite admit it
grasping at all the straws we can—
as they did, must have, our ancestors
brothers and sisters long dead, alive
in the eternal imagination
handed down in its flame. Bright stars,
and because we were always dreaming, half-sane
guided or propelled by the same trance
that moves us, illuminates us, shifting over
to the other side of the brain, like a page
that has no opposite, only the sun.

Black sun, or bright, gold as what we know
and must utter, witness, from age to age
along the thread of our being, our lives
of arriving and leaving in this so imperfect world
that grinds on like a rudderless submarine
from explosion to explosion, or wave.

And you talk about the spiritual warfare within
and how we can be used to channel
for the light or dark, or the dark
that pretends to be light—the self-appointed
priest who lashes out like a black magician
in the name of Jesus. What’s really going on ?

Interference—by any other name
where we can only keep the faith, unpaid
lovers, or friends, or somewhere in between
living for the love of it—and the love
we can only choose that moves everything
and in the harmony we’re so profoundly needing
to return to, as Dante climbed that stair;
his beloved guiding him, as he cherished her.

And to be dreaming yet awake, and savagely
seeing the world as transparent
as a sheet of blood-stained glass, an X ray
a MRI where there’s nowhere to hide
as our friends begin to falter, struck down
as suddenly as unimagineable lightning
by the Invisible that orders everything
in its chaos of unguessable strangeness.

Just your hand reaching with its rings
towards mine, in a lingering
that will stretch back into the invisible
where you become the words you’ll send me
among the frozen photographs. Married
to ourselves, or each other, or this. Moment
poised to become a memory as we stand
to go out to the street where I waited
as you appeared under the trees—

and now you disappear, as I turn once more
to see your hand raised, smile hovering
because we know each time is the last time

until all that’s left between us
are these blue stars, witnessing
as we go to our separate beds.


Dec. 5th, Tufnell Park, London N19

As a rule, I do not post on Sunday, but I just listened to an inspiring webcast that I wanted to share with you.
This webcast was a presentation by Marianne Williamson, known to thousands as a major spiritual teacher, lecturer, counselor and writer in our time.  She has written many spiritual volumes, several of which have been on the N. Y. Times bestseller list for weeks.
To be honest, I have never followed her work very closely, assuming that she was simply another New Age prophet, with a fundamental message similar to all the rest.
But now her life and message have turned around.  Marianne Williamson is running for the House of Representatives from her district  in southern California.  As she explains, she is doing this because she feels we are in a state of national and global crisis, and that,
unless right minded people come forward, our society will not exist beyond one or two hundred years in the future.
Here are a few of the salient points she made:
l. Money is at the root of all our problems.  Once the Supreme Court opened the way for
big corporations to make unlimited and anonymous contributions, the latter became, in effect, the rulers of our country and democracy suffered a fatal blow.
2. We should try to reverse the monopoly currently exercised by big money and restore the fundamentals of democratic rule in every way we can--perhaps by a constitutional amendment.
3. Even though other idealists have tried and failed to restore decency and democratic principles to the  political process and failed (Dennis Kucinich being a prime example), we should not give up hope.  Such major social movements as the emancipation of the slaves, the women's suffrage movement (and I might add-the feminist movement and gay liberation and spiritual transformation)--all started very slowly with only a few committed souls waging what appeared to be a losing battle.  (Note: I have seen the same thing happen with kundalini.  Once a virtually unknown topic in the West, it has in recent decades become almost a buzz word--for better or worse.)  So it takes only a small core of devoted activists to effect change.  And--TIMES ARE DIFFERENT NOW IN TERMS OF THE POLITICAL LANDSCAPE.  PEOPLE ARE READIER THAN THEY ONCE WERE TO UNDERSTAND AND STAND AGAINST THE POWERS THAT CURRENTLY HAVE A STRANGLEHOLD ON OUR SYSTEM.  As she pointed out, if
a song is to be heard, someone must sound the first note.  (I think this point is especially important for those of us who have supported many idealist causes and candidates over the years and feel that our efforts have been and will continue to be in vain.)
4.  She will be attacked and ridiculed by many in the mainstream press.  She will be dismissed as a "New Age nut case" by many, even though her message is that of fundamental democratic principles.  She says she is prepared to withstand such mockery.
5. She would like those who agree with her efforts to contribute even a small amount (such as $5.00) to her cause at: Mariannefor Congress  or else send a check to
MarianneWilliamson  for Congress.com
1507 7th St.
7B
Santa Monica, CA  90401
6. Marianne says her purpose is not necessarily to win this election but to speak her truth
and to contribute to a conversation that we as citizens of an endangered democracy need to have.
7.  You can hear this talk on:  http://beyondawakeningseries.com/blog/archive/
I strongly urge you to take the time to listen.  You will not be disappointed.

From Wikipedia: "For practicing Buddhists, references to "dharma" (dhamma in Pali) particularly as "the Dharma", generally means the teachings of the Buddha, commonly known throughout the East as Buddha-Dharma.

The status of Dharma is regarded variably by different Buddhist traditions. Some regard it as an ultimate truth, or as the fount of all things which lies beyond the "three realms" (Sanskrit: tridhatu) and the "wheel of becoming" (Sanskrit: bhavacakra), somewhat like the pagan Greek and Christian logos: this is known as Dharmakaya (Sanskrit)."

Here is Lawrence Edwards' interpretation:


On Dharma--by Lawrence Edwards, PHD

"I read a while back some where about the power that is behind Dharma and supports those who attempt to be true to dharma, especially in this dark age of adharma.  I think the author, whom I don’t remember referred to it as Dharma Shakti, but it could have been my devotee’s mind that put it in those terms!  I began thinking of the power of Dharma that Buddha transmitted awakening some instantly to his state, and continues to be fully alive in Buddhadharma and other dharmas.  Dharma Shakti.  It is the dharma of a devotee and servant to lovingly serve with all one’s capabilities.  This is karma bhumi, the realm of action.  So when all seeking has been exhausted, when She has extinguished all cravings, when unknowing has dissolved in the embrace of the unspeakable, what is left to engender action?  The one last desire in the dharma of one who has take the bodhisattva again and again, to follow dharma, Dharma Shakti, through Her drama of hide and seek, form and emptiness, bondage and freedom, pain and ecstasy, serving, forever serving…."

About Julian of Norwich

Last night Mirabai Starr talked about the various saints she has translated and written
about.  These included St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and Julian of
Norwich.  (I am convinced that the "raptures"  of that early Teresa as well as the ecstasy of St John were kundalini manifestations, but I will say more about this at a later time.)  As I had expected, Mirabai was gracious, witty and informed.  I loved the presentation.

I think most of us are more familiar with the first two than Julian.  Here is what I have
found about her (from wikipedia):

"When she was 30 and living at home, Julian suffered from a severe illness. Whilst apparently on her deathbed, she had a series of intense visions of Jesus Christ, which ended by the time she recovered from her illness on 13 May 1373.[5] Julian wrote about her visions immediately after they had happened (although the text may not have been finished for some years), in a version of the Revelations of Divine Love now known as the Short Text; this narrative of 25 chapters is about 11,000 words long.[6] It is believed to be the earliest surviving book written in the English language by a woman.[7]"

In Julian's private writings, she actually proposed that Christ was "mother" (female) as well as male.  She described God as a loving caring being, not the judging and  raging deity that many of her time insisted on.

Because of the unorthodox nature of her views, her writings received little notice for many years.  Today, modern feminist writers who wish to reclaim the "feminine face of
God," often turn to her works for support.

By the way, her name was not actually Julian.  This was, rather, the name of the little church she was attached to as an "anchoress" (isolated retreatent).  (Apparently her little cell did look out upon the city, so she could at least see out.) Norwich was the name
of the town (then a thriving commercial center) where the church was located.

One of her most famous sayings is "All will be well/ and all will be well."  (quoted by T.
S. Eliot in "The Four Quartets.")

The Monk on the Mountain
        “Picking up what comes to hand, he uses it knowingly”

Who is that wild-haired monk,
That recluse, hermit,
Living all these years in his cave on the mountainside?

Does he light incense? No.
But he breathes in the dawn mist, heavy with pine scent.

Does he bow to Buddha?  No.
But the broken branch of a tree reminds him of suffering and the brevity of life.

Does he chant a sutra?  No.
But, every day, at first light and at twilight,
His thick fingers caress his prayer beads.

Prayer beads?
Does this fellow dangle dainty pearls or stroke glossy little globes adorned with silken tassels?
No.  His beads are crude, chunky nuts,
Eighteen of them,
Foraged from among fallen leaves and
Strung onto hairs from the tail of an itinerant ox.

And as he fingers the bumpy surface of each nut,
His fingers trace hard edges, soft hollows,
Shapes that rise, fall, disappear
As his breath rises, falls, disappears

So who is this wild-haired monk?
A man like any other, he walks and sleeps,
Eats and shits and goes about his business,
Balancing on the edge of life and death.

Who is this man?
Who is that pine tree?
That drifting cloud?

           - Nina Mermey Klippel

(Notes: This poem was inspired by a bracelet of Chinese prayer beads of unknown date, made of lithocarpus, the nut of the stone oak tree, which was exhibited at the Rubin Museum in New York City. The crudeness of the beads brought to mind the character of the wild-haired monk, from a parable in a text by the 13th century Zen master Dogen called  Dotuku (Expressions).
_______________________________________________

Recently (Monday), I was trying to locate Mirabai Starr's e-mail address to send her a note, but had no luck.  I was wondering how to contact her, when I happened to run across a notice on her website that she would be signing books at the local bookstore on Wednesday, two days hence.  I found this a most welcome synchronicity, and of course
made plans to attend.

Mirabai Starr is one of the most interesting writers, translators, poets of mystical topics that we have among us today.  She has done acclaimed translations of Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, St. Francis of Assisi (among others.)  She also has posted some impressive essays on the religious section of the Huffington Post.

Mirabai grew up in the Lama Foundation, a religious community near Taos founded by Ram Dass several years ago.  Her parents were transplanted New York Jews (secular) who fled the East Coast for the spiritual community of the Lama Foundation.  Thus she comes from a generation that had a kind of "head start" in the spiritual world, since she was exposed at an early age to the thought and writings of many traditions.

Here is what one internet site said about Mirabai, the mystic/saint of ancient times (her princely husband had now died and his family was unkind to her because of her insistent devotion to Lord Krishna):

"Her friends advised her to leave the palace and return to Brindaban. Secretly with some followers she slipped out of the palace and escaped to the holy city of Brindaban. In Brindaban Mirabai was free to worship Giridhara (Krishna) to her heart’s content. She would spend her time in singing bhajans (holy songs) and in ecstatic communion with Krishna. Like a true Bhakti (devotee) she worshipped God wholeheartedly. The riches of the world offered no attraction to Mirabai; her only satisfaction came from her single minded devotion  to Sri Krishna. Her soul was ever yearning for Krishna. She considered herself to be a Gopi (maid devotee) of Vrindaban, mad only with pure love for Krishna."

Her poems are still sung in India to this day.  Here is one:


I am mad with love
And no one understands my plight.
Only the wounded
Understand the agonies of the wounded,
When the fire rages in the heart.
Only the jeweller knows the value of the jewel,
Not the one who lets it go.
In pain I wander from door to door,
But could not find a doctor.
Says Mira: Harken, my Master,
Mira's pain will subside
When Shyam comes as the doctor.

Because this ancient saint/poet is a major inspiration to those who follow the path of mystical love, I included some "Poems for Mirabai" in my volume "A Cloth of Fine Gold."  Here is a sample:

 

The Wine of Madness

Shatter open my skull, pour in it the wine of madness!
Let me be mad, as mad as You, mad with You, with us.
Beyond the sanity of fools is a burning desert
Where Your Sun is whirling in every atom; drag me there,
Beloved, drag me there, let me roast in Perfection!

Rumi (tr. Andrew Harvey)

Sacrifice

Forget sacrifice. . . . The question is how to remain faithful to all the impossible, necessary resurrections.
                                   Lynn Ungar

Frankly, I’ve never understood it—
this notion that by giving up something
(say candy or cigarettes for lent)
you would thereby gain something worthwhile
in return—
such as what?
God’s love?
Self-respect?
Evidence of inner discipline?

Would a deity, I wonder, really
care
whether or not you smoked cigars
or ate nothing but
lentils and onions
for a few weeks?

And why would you have to
“sacrifice” in order to receive
that one’s love?

What kind of love is that?
One based on a kind of barter system?
Quid pro quo?

Personally, I prefer
the Easter part of the story—
the antique tale of
the death and resurrection
of the ancient god,
the one who kept dying
with the seasons
then getting
reborn
year after year,
century after century,
who knows how long.

This is where
real courage
is required—
the willingness to surrender
all that you are
for an unknown you to come,
the trust that only by rising anew
from darkness
again and again
will all these deaths
bring light.

Dorothy Walters
November 23, 2013

(picture found on internet)

For Michael Black, Again

Now that he is gone,
I keep making him
into an angel.

The gentleness.
The compassion.

How can someone
never speak ill
of another?
Or cast a doubt
on things the rest
of us wonder about?
(Are there really
angels waiting
in the wings,
ready to heal)?

What does it mean
to actually embody
“unconditional love”?
("I love you completely,
no matter who or what
you have become or done.")

To offer respect to each one
you meet, regardless
of circumstance.

I know, he had his aggravations,
his tendency to go all the way,
break the barriers,
too far in the minds of others.

Did he really live on Lemuria?
Was he really the reincarnation
of that famous ancient sage?

He couldn’t even
keep a job,
kept finding reasons to leave.

The original child.

And those incredible
puns—
outrageous by any name.
And the ever growing
treasure horde of crystals
vibrating together like
one great bliss machine
and the voyages to other realms—
planets and stars
such as Sirius and Andromeda--
places we had barely heard of
and seldom thought about.

Always I see him
with this glow
surrounding his form,
even a suggestion of wings,
telling reminders
of who he was,
who he became.

Dorothy Walters
November 26, 2013

Who Went Unheard

I think again and again
of those who went
so long unheard,
or even ignored.

Vivaldi and the children,
some hardly bigger
than their instruments.
Nobody really noticed.
No one really cared.
Yet they played on.

And dear Emily,
her letter to the world--
something kept her writing,
packets bound together in wool,
poems in mittens,
dropped for passing school children.

And of course Mozart,
his reward
the pauper’s grave.
Who knows where he
entered earth?
All transmuted
to sound.

And even Bach,
out of favor at the end.

Blake, Van Gogh, Dante
in exile...the list goes on. . .

One likes to believe
that in the elsewhere realm
these were at last were fully heard,
vibrant chords circulating among
the angelic choirs,
choruses of Gloria
and string quartets
and the audience ravished—silent--
becoming only this.

Dorothy Walters
November 26, 2013

On this Music

Why not give up
and become that which
it is?
Why not surrender totally,
flow into these vibrations,
swirl with these frequencies?
Angels can do it.

Where did these sounds come from?
Where did you?
Did someone discover the original
merger,
the source where we and it
(all of it,  all of us)
were one,
one strong note,
one syllable, a single sound,
before we got parceled out,
separated into segments,
was this what is meant by
the fall?

Dorothy Walters
November 24, 2013

(image from internet)

I wave my hands like leaves, I whirl dancing like the moon;
My turning may seem earthly, but it is purer, far purer,
Than the turning of all the spheres of heaven.
You go on talking if you want; I'll pray to God for your soul,
When wild and drunk I bow down to Him each morning.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)