Monday, July 15, 2019
The Coin You Came With––Poem by Dorothy
The Coin You Came With
When you were born,
a golden coin was placed
in your mouth.
One side said "transcendence"
and the other "the mundane."
Transcendence took you
to the moment on the mountain
as the sun was coming up
and the whole world
shimmered awake in joy,
when you won the prize
and everyone applauded,
the time you finally held
in your arms
the one you had waited for
for so very long,
listening to Mozart
when you almost went
out of your body with rapture.
When the Mystery
exploded in your body
and changed your life
forever.
The mundane took up
the rest of your time,
which was most of it:
checking to see
if the laundry was finished drying,
trying to do the exercises
like the picture in the ad,
watering the plant,
looking for the lost keys,
taking the car in for service,
going to the doctor's office
to get the tests done,
trying to remember
the rest of the grocery list,
wondering what the new neighbors
were truly like, if the rumors were true,
standing by on "hold."
Sometimes you lived
in one world,
sometimes the other.
Finally you realized
you were part of both,
that one side said: "Ascend"
even as the other insisted
"Keep your feet on the ground,"
even as the hail was pounding on the roof overhead,
even as the flowers were falling
and others were pressing up through the earth,
ready to be born
as the hail beat out the rhythm
of some unknown celestial tune.
Dorothy Walters
July 13, 2019
When you were born,
a golden coin was placed
in your mouth.
One side said "transcendence"
and the other "the mundane."
Transcendence took you
to the moment on the mountain
as the sun was coming up
and the whole world
shimmered awake in joy,
when you won the prize
and everyone applauded,
the time you finally held
in your arms
the one you had waited for
for so very long,
listening to Mozart
when you almost went
out of your body with rapture.
When the Mystery
exploded in your body
and changed your life
forever.
The mundane took up
the rest of your time,
which was most of it:
checking to see
if the laundry was finished drying,
trying to do the exercises
like the picture in the ad,
watering the plant,
looking for the lost keys,
taking the car in for service,
going to the doctor's office
to get the tests done,
trying to remember
the rest of the grocery list,
wondering what the new neighbors
were truly like, if the rumors were true,
standing by on "hold."
Sometimes you lived
in one world,
sometimes the other.
Finally you realized
you were part of both,
that one side said: "Ascend"
even as the other insisted
"Keep your feet on the ground,"
even as the hail was pounding on the roof overhead,
even as the flowers were falling
and others were pressing up through the earth,
ready to be born
as the hail beat out the rhythm
of some unknown celestial tune.
Dorothy Walters
July 13, 2019
