Atonement

Death does not separate, 

it does not leave us alone. 

To fear its presence 

and hate its results 

is to feel our condition in Life. 

For it is Life, not Death, 

which keeps us apart. 

The togetherness is an illusion; 

believed, but never to be felt. 

Even the embryo, 

though by only a membranes thickness 

is kept alone.

The aloneness then 

is always with and within us. 

We may live side by side, 

share life’s goodness and hurt; 

experience the same point in time 

with those around us;

but never be joined. 

But still we struggle

for what can never be 

and give the blame

to Death.

There is no Grim Reaper,

no sword that cuts us down.

Death is that which

finally does join.

We are all of the same stuff;

Formed of the same clay,

Breathing the wind’s breath,

Moving with the ocean’s flow,

Radiating the sun’s energy,

Yet we fight the rhythm.

When we yield to the

way of nature;

give in to its time,

we then can blend

and become one.

Earth, Wind, Fire and Water

all relate to the basic elements.

Yet, while in their forms,

they must remain apart

from the others.

The water erodes the land

when it forces itself upon it.

The fire rages out of control

when the wind tries to enter in.

But each in its own time

assumes the form of the other.

Then let us, each of us,

while in a definable state

seek not to be a part

of another’s life.

Keep apart, in order to compliment,

not complete the other.

For we may only enter our

at-one-ness

Alone.

 

Winter of 1975. I have left traditional

Christian religion behind and have

embraced a Gnostic / Occult point of view.

It seems to work for me at the very least.

between the times of reckoning

there comes a gentle beckoning

to join the mass of apathy

slowly slipping ‘neath the sea

of fatalistic motioning

to alpha point the oceans bring

to every shore humanity

with loving care gentility

will cause the frozen hearts to sing

a melody with hope to cling

upon the wall of desperation

a portrait of anticipation

 

June, 1976. The Bicentennial! The hype,

the anticipation, the commercialization,

the point of the whole thing being missed.

If Jefferson had been alive that spring,

would he have recognized the democracy

he helped to bring to this land?

 

Dear Don,

Our best friend, Bob, died last week of head injuries he received in a motorcycle accident. While the details are still sketchy, it apparently happened while he was racing his dirt bike. It seems he lost his balance as he was shifting gears, trying to gain on a little two-stroker.

As I said, we’re not really sure of the cause of death, and some say he had a heart attack while he was playing tennis and was losing 30 – love.

We were all pretty shook up, so Ray took us to the cemetery, said a few words over the grave, and reassured most of us that life was still as meaningless as ever.

Sincerely,

George

 

For my best friend on the 30^th anniversary

of his birth. 1978

As God sends into life by way of birth,

so does God call into life by way of death.

And though there may be birth,

And though there may be death,

And though there may be birth,

There is life.

 

The inspiration just sort of hit me as I was

traveling down the road and its essence

filled my senses.

The passage of time, what a curious force,

It has no pace to define it.

It flows through our lives with no definite course,

No power could hope to confine it.

The past and the present and future all blend

Into one great relative movement.

The old speed it up and the young slow it down,

While neither does much to improve it.

But still we all feel if we had our own way

We’d mold it to suit our desires;

While the Master of Time, the Ancient of Days

Somehow neither wearies nor tires.

 

A relatively good work.

With a smile to beguile and confuse all the rest,

She tries to conceal what few could have guessed;

Excalibur is wedged near her heart, ‘neath her breast.

To grasp and remove it seems the mystical test

That must be completed before she will be blessed

With the freedom to live and to love and find rest.

Then fear overcomes her and she cries in her strife,

"If I challenge my fate and remove that damned knife

I might cut out the heart that preserves this frail life.

I must wait for a knight with a magical hand

To conquer the wizard who conceived of the plan

That cursed me to live in this motionless land."

Will she wait there forever and dream of a day

That can gather her tears and then dry them away?

Or come to the knowledge that no wizard or king

Has any relation to this cold piercing thing

That suppresses her actions and stifles her breath;

And that the fear of the heart turns one’s life into death.

 

I have always considered myself a bit of a

feminist. This is an attempt to prove my

sensitivity.

 

Well I thought we had a relationship

We had dated for a week.

We were just about to get it on

When she moved her mouth to speak:

She said, "What will you give me if I give you some of this?

A ring for my finger, or a bracelet for my wrist?

Or just a smile and a kiss that you think will make it right?

No, what will you give me if I give you this tonight?"

I said, "You’ll give me nothing, you have nothing to give,

This thing you claim to offer is somewhat like a sieve.

Cause after I receive it, I’ve nothing to show,

The situation’s simple, I thought that you would know."

"So I’ll try to make it clear to you, I’ll try the best I can,

Before something can be exchanged, you need it in the hand.

But I guess you just don’t understand, or maybe don’t believe

That during this thing that’s about to happen, it’s you who will receive."

 

This poem destroys everything

accomplished in the previous piece.

I was moving through the galaxies when I said to my Self,

"See how space stretches in every direction for what must be an infinity?

If this is so, then surely I must be at its center."

Suddenly, I was struck with a feeling of great power and importance.

"How can it be that all that is revolves around me?"

And as my thoughts were filled with this wonder I noticed a

Glowing luminescence radiating from the very center of my being.

It knew no limitation or singular direction until it ultimately became Indistinguishable from the other lights and forms of the heavens.

"What great force is this which can fill an infinity in an instant?

How could it have been hidden within my very being and not have

Indicated it presence until now?"

My sense of Self-importance was overwhelming and my mind began

To spin in ecstasy at all I might do and be.

After all, if I was at the center of all that exists and my essence

Fills the cosmos, there could be only one logical reason for my existence.

I was the Master of the Universe.

Ah, what joy this truth brought me. The stars and the planets were there

For my pleasure and I brought them into the depths of my soul

For what must have been an eternity, yet could not have lasted

For more than a second.

But then, there, in the furthest corner of the heavens,

From the corner of my eye I saw a slight movement

Suddenly appear to stop.

Within an instant I felt myself being hurled through space.

Despite all my efforts I could not control my destination.

What power was this that could command one as great as I?

Still, I was not traveling alone through the galaxies.

It was rather that the stars and planets had been caught up

In an enormous whirlpool with the axis

At the very spot where the object had come to a halt.

Then, from that spot, the faintest glimmer appeared,

Followed by a blinding flash.

It was then I knew I was not alone.

 

A flight of fancy expressing my belief in the

infinite nature of our being. Infinity

implies space as well as time.