SANCTUARY

BEGINNING

2009-07-01T12:33:00.002-04:00

This moment is the beginning

In our own inimitable, personalized and characteristic way we maneuver ourselves from day to day, adventure to adventure, struggle to struggle, leaving "nothing to chance".

At times insecure, seeking. At other times strong and generating-radiating-contributing immeasurably.

Yet (non-conformist nature which most of us clearly possess) many strengths quickly subside in the course of measuring ourselves against contrasting surroundings.

Therein lies the struggle for sanity and control; are we to be crazy by our own standards or by someone else’s?

Emotions are Creatures of the Jungle. Panic and they devour.

Observe, experience and reach out as necessary with gentle hand or deadly force. The Jungle can be a warm and reassuring home, comforting in time of need, keeping us alert and active.

Remember: Sometimes, when it’s least expected, we get a little help, a little extra, a surprise that makes us give thanks, makes everything magical.

ASSIMILATION OF POWER (There is No Crime)

2009-07-01T12:27:00.013-04:00

There is no crime (just your dissimilation)

At the outset of our lives we aspire to succeed at doing various things, such as holding a spoon, walking, talking, reading etc. Success with these undertakings is generally achieved, and they are non-competitive.

As the things we aspire to succeed at achieving evolve to include social intercourse they become competitive. There are groups, where-in success in socially interacting results in acceptance, position or status, and failure to successfully interact with the social dynamics of the group results in rejection or classification as an "outsider".

All the people in the world form a group commonly referred to by the group as the human race, or "humanity". The people in the human race break down into a variety of sub-groups. Nations, races, tribes, fishermen, soldiers, businessmen, students, babies, children, women, men, honest, dishonest, educated, rich, poor, etc. Some groups are formally delineated either by themselves or by outsiders, and some are not

The human race (a biological group) has never proclaimed any unified standard of acceptance, perhaps because there is no choice in whether one can join or be rejected. One simply is born a member of the group. Other biological groups are the same. Other groups based on objective factors such as craft and skill are similar. One may be an excellent fisherman, or a poor one, or primitive, or stupid, or clever but a fisherman is a fisherman.

An accepted member of a society and a rejected member of a society are assigned their position through being subjected to a subjective "filtering" process set by the group. To obtain a status ranking within the group one must qualify. Qualification is based on things the group values such as education, experience, background, influence, affluence, intelligence, ability to follow rules, etc. This filter allows for the illusion of a clearly (and therefore fairly) delineated methodology one need simply follow to "earn" status within the group. The rules are set by leaders of the group and evolve as leaders come and go. Thus those with lower status may exercise some control over their position through cultivating certain skills or other resources they can provide to the group, and by continuing to follow the rules. Those who fail to follow the rules are generally rejected by the group, as are those who lack the ability to contribute resources to the group.

Contemporary law is the most pretentious of these filters. While proclaiming to provide a fair and objective set of standards to protect people from harm, contemporary law clearly harms many people who pose no threat. The justification is couched in varied subjective philosophies. The definition of harm is spelled out and applied by those with status to protect their status. The resulting action deprives others of status. Thus power within a group is assimilated, and power of those who do not aspire to the philosophies of the group is dissimilated.

WORDS

2009-07-01T12:06:00.001-04:00

As I slip quietly out of reach

of past moments explored only in my mind, my eyes, my senses,

my lack of animation/participation casts long shadows…

I am burning. My hand takes pen,

my forces drip through words on paper, so inadequate a medium to share;

“Can words remove, can words erase,

What words have said and leave no trace?”

I hesitate and question

Then make a move and step too far….

I’m on fire, I’m on fire

Return to the beginning and back to here and now

yet nothing’s changed

I’ve not done a thing outside my mind but time has passed, life used…

A gentle whisper in the night eludes me

but pen answers,

says “Go on,

you’ve only just started

and must go on…”

SNOWFLAKE

2009-07-01T11:59:00.001-04:00

Sighing a whisper on a breath of air a snowflake flutters through the dry cold air and settles on the blanket of white that in this time and space has become the earth; in an instance all is one

and then another snowflake is seen fluttering through my mind…

It is winter in California and the rain pours steadily outside my window

a trickle leaks through the corner and forms a pool on the sill

it threatens to touch my elbow….

Mystery eludes me as fact

fact as dream

so I touch the stars with dreams and laugh

at being mystery…..

Gentleness and depth of meaning often seem so insignificant measured against the intense and dramatic. The impact of the moment dominates, temporarily.

Kick an empty can in a silent alley at night

Skip a rock on a mirror-smooth lake

Remember the sound of the rain

Take a trip, get away, can you do it?

Rare moments seldom recurring, the mountains in dreams seldom attained at will,

Something firm which we hold though the sea wash away all else.

Trailblazer! Flashing sword in hand!

Unruly wild thing below the surface

of the calm collective mind…

CHOICE

2009-07-01T11:55:00.001-04:00

Life divided, little cubes of time

the compensation money to buy a little more

of life or time

the choice is mine…

Then just when there’s enough

the ratio changes…

once again in need of little cubes of time

to live…

Can’t you see

Understand to be free,

A helping hand is fine

but also give a helping mind

a piece of time

see what it’s worth

our peace of mind…

EXTINCTION

2009-07-01T11:50:00.001-04:00

Echoes of the past we live with, not always real

yet not imagined

Echoes we should hear as guiding, life-force rhythms;

What is it that we fear?

Return from a journey that now will never end

it seems…

It seems like yesterday

it’s not and yet

it’s all not really clear…

I wonder will it ever be?

What creature is devouring me?

No sooner do I near completion than there appears another need….

The simple life these current times seems becoming obsolete

The simple mind just short of overloaded….

Adapt.

Adapt or be extinct.

Isn’t that a strange thought…

FORGETTING

2009-07-01T11:45:00.001-04:00

Is forgetting inevitable?

Finding a space to enter, settle down in, prior to contemplating forgetting.

This biometaphysical semi-pseudo-intellectual gobbeldy-voo-doo logica-info-trap.

Recall, that event which reflexively stimulates the senses... The brain believes it pursues an objective path while the spirit paints a portrait of it floating through space. Sweet recall which takes me ever more clearly, again, through where I've previously already been some other time before

If I can't recall, have I forgotten? Should I have been able to remember?

So much is starkly-clearly-tangibly real and in focus, so much spills out of my grasp...

GO FOR A WALK

2009-07-01T11:31:00.001-04:00

If your hands are full and you’re looking for a place to put everything down,

tell your story as if to somebody

don’t keep kicking yourself around…

If you’re lost and trying to find it, that place where you feel you should go,

put another in the place where your eyes fit

see how they see the show…

If it made a great difference we’d see it, that sensible pathway to joy

but forever it splits and deceives us,

we get crafty, and wicked, and coy…

If a fire is burning around you, if you’re so terrified you can’t talk,

get a breath of fresh air from the window

go out and go for a walk

go out and go for a walk…

Nothing is better than loving

so many ways one can love,

Nothing is better than loving

love looks at it all from above….

CAMPFIRE

2009-07-01T11:15:00.003-04:00

Time to sit by the Campfire - Contemporary Western Mythology

The wasteland theory contends that all would be a wasteland inhabited by savages were it not for the intervention of contemporary western civilization.

The word "civilization" creates the convenient distinction between savage and contemporary man.

The savage is obviously incapable of comprehending the concept.

Civilized man is rarely, if ever, called upon to explain it. Yet free to use it limitlessly to justify whatever he chooses.

And so the language of the poet becomes either the ramblings of the wasteland savage or a brilliant linguistic exercise of a perceptive, sensitive contemporary genius.

The Earth endures much in providing the privilege of enjoying her graces, yet it is ourselves we praise, not her.

Spiritual sense of wonder lost, ghostly silhouettes on cave-walls lost, lost to comprehension.

CLARITY

2009-07-01T08:58:00.002-04:00

With a clarity of recall to which I can seldom avail

Faces come back to me from so far away.

Infinite detail

Character

Moods, places, situations and thoughts

Transitions between then and now…

Though the extent of experience affects one, inside the premises upon which we build ourselves up and into the future remain intact, continue to enforce the rules for our behavior.

The places spaces inside me

Personal, secret, hidden from other’s vision

(though that be far from my intent)

Shall remain hidden and unseen perhaps forever,

the puzzle that is too intense and curious

for outsiders to pursue, to solve….

The loneliness of youth, frustration, yearning, search

Perhaps answered some years later through this,

This recognition…

The Universe inside ourselves of which we, not others,

are to be the explorers, the travelers, and ultimately the sole dwellers….

Of which at best we share glimpses of other’s

With another

Sometimes

for a while….

What a precious moment to recall so clearly…..

REGENERATE

2009-07-01T08:42:00.002-04:00

Imagine at the door, the best friend ever,

come to say hello.

Regenerate,

regenerate the energy that makes you go

Sunshine of the mind

ain’t it fine

to have the chance to be here?

There’s so much more than yourself and it all regenerates,

regenerates, going on

creating other moments

waves on beaches

come and go

and come again,

regenerate the sunshine of the mind with strength,

desire….

Hand it to the animal,

give it a shot.

It may be an animal, but its instincts are hot.

Give in to the music, sing, play the song,

dance the dance, absorb the rhythm

of light the light:

give birth to yourself…

Depression’s just a labor pain.

In the fireplace burns a log,

how many have I burned before…

One more thing to understand,

how many have there been before….

Regenerate’s the music of the song.

No puppet on a string, all predetermined motions

well educated guesses and self defeating notions;

Word play, word power, any day, any hour,

Regenerate the energy that makes you go,

sunshine of the mind

Regenerate…

WHAT I KNOW

2009-07-01T08:38:00.001-04:00

It’s not what I want

for which I fight to retain,

It is what I know

from where my feelings have been.

GATEPOST

2009-07-01T08:11:00.001-04:00

Leave a message on the gatepost

should someone pass this way and care to know

if you got here just like they did

or what you thinks’ in store

and like someone thirsting water

I’ll be grateful just to see

that the path on which I wander

‘s being used by more than me….

MOMENT

2009-07-01T08:06:00.001-04:00

In a moment of waiting I pondered

what I’ve so often pondered before

Though it seems like I’m curiously waiting

I can go where the sea meets the shore

I can go where no time comes around me

I can go where we’ve all been before…

I can find what I make when I’ve made it

I can be where I went when I’ve gone

But they’re all intermixed and related

So I find what I left where I made it

As I go from this moment to more…