All This Has Happened Before

When you bow your head and fall to your knees,
Knowing day departs and darkness will be long—
Open the unblinking eye within,
Live close to open water, down where blue heron stands,
One leg holding body steady, without a sound
Watch wild beasts on the hill and serpents in their den.

Of course your soul will resist and regret
When walking on steep path, thirsting, wanting sleep
While wondering if dawn will come again.
Guard your heart and never trust his clever lies.
Be angry that cripples have seized the throne,
Ensnaring all who dream of gold in the tall dark tower.

Hope comes when the eye begins to see in the dark,
Knows the purity of cold despair.
In years to come, mind will enter itself again.
Until then, trust that gods still hear your cries.
And never, never grow accustomed to the dark.
All this once happened before, and worse.

As Healing Darkness Descends….

As Sun began to set behind the hills,
I walked through rain to the cabin,
Almost hidden, alone within woods.
Slowly, darkness descended upon the Earth.

Sitting before the fire, I sensed original myth,
Enormous, carrying upon its shoulders an entire
World of meaning, echoing with a whisper
Where no words could give shape or definition,
Only virgin secrecy of silence as the rain fell.

All words poured down into the ground,
Without judgment, drenching thick layers of fallen leaves
Lying upon sodden ground, covering the dead,
Soaking the little valley, washing away
Whatever sins and memories had been cherished.

Absolutely alone at last, I sensed an innocence emerge,
Perfect in its wholeness, needing nothing….
Like the storm, no one predicted it, no one started it,
No one will raise a hand to stop it.

It will last as long as it wants—
This rain upon dry bones. I can only surrender,
Watch and listen as long as it lasts,
Sit quietly before fading coals— washed clean,
Finally liberated even from the need to pray.

Only then was something new awakened,
Light pouring forth from darkness,
New Heaven and New Earth cleansed,
Infinitely fragile and powerful,
Once again, something beautiful that does not sleep.