I
plucking strings
the player feels each note,
his eyes closed
he lets himself be surprised
by vibrations of bone or soul
II
the butterfly
splays its wings and holds,
in that stillness
it becomes a flower
’til it must butter-fly
III
wind tousles
the grain-weighted heads
of ripe wheat
the sway is erratic
the sound is subtle
Under the vault of starry skies,
I lost my Self through open eyes.
I spread out through that vast light cloud,
and heard the wordless word aloud.
I lost my Self through open eyes?
How’d I stretch to infinite size?
I heard a wordless word aloud?
How’d I Know what was wrapped in shrouds?
How’d I stretch to infinite size —
and all between sun’s set and rise?
How’d I Know what was wrapped in shrouds —
secrets felt; not spoken out loud?
I died between sunset and rise,
under that vault of starry skies.
I could feel, but not speak out loud
as I floated in that light cloud.
In the last days that stony ground gave life,
those great, green gifts were gained by thrust of knife.
As the blood puddle spread, so went the green —
trumped by colors inanimate and mean.
And when they prayed for cooler days and nights,
they were answered with blazing fires and lights.
The forest floor —
strewn with damp leaf litter
&
slightly twisted twin-pronged needles.
Fungal fruiting bodies,
caps sprinkled with grit,
stand sentry over the rich, black loam.
The musty smell at life & death’s edge
reigns subtly supreme.
We call it decay, and think it a death stench,
but that ground echoes the ouroboros —
the mythical serpent consuming it’s own tail —
eater and eaten are one —
life and death are thusly intertwined in that dark soil.
Dear leader, Kim Jong-Un
was making bold threats to turn off the sun.
His problem, it would appear,
was turning off only the Western Hemisphere.
I
hold travel plans
like a stinky diaper —
not like a crowbar
II
the mountaintop
is always farther
than it looks
III
sorry Mr. Frost,
the less traveled road
is a deadend
IV
eat local food
cheeseburger in Shangri-la…
never sicker
Taken in May of 2018 in Bhaktapur from Nyatapola Temple plinth
