TWO TRIPS
Trips—many trips
Bringing us to the lands of countless planets
We rise on the heels of Mercury
Without the rolling wheels and gnashing motors
We speed toward the lights of Apollo
Toward the endless rainbow of life
We thank our Godly messenger
Then we bound lightly to the colors
And slide to the stars
We play with the lights
And sift stardust through our fingers
We hide behind the galaxies
To sneak a glance of Venus
A glance of beauty
Then we hurry
We hurry back again
To catch our Earth-bound messenger
We leave behind the rainbow life
And once again drift into Earth's darkness of reality
The dull drab ungodly life of reality
To this we come back
We come back to this world
In which many friends are tripping—
Tripping across the blues and greens
Of the rolling flowing waves
Tripping across the soft felt greens
Of the rolling flowing fields
Of the rolling flowing trees
Tripping a trip where many will stay—
In the Earth of time
Tripping a trip
To the enemies' front line
What a strange poem—
Confusion swirling
In pandemonium
And the meaning is lost
On the relative thinker
Hurry, worry, and hatred
The way of life
In mind set
But rise up
And knock off
The shackles of misery
Free the mind of drudgery
Live and love
Freedom
For no shackles
Can hold the mind that loves
Sing with joy
And
Sing with love
Sing the song of freedom
Bring forth the peace
And tranquility
Bring light
To the darkness
You and you
And you
And gone
The misery
Exploded into infinite time
What matters?
Let go the antilife
And perform the chores
With love
I look down
And suddenly
I am one with them
I understand their worries
Their fears
But also
I understand
The essence of infinite law
So let us laugh the sound of peace
With you and you
And you
For gone
Our troubles—
What matters?
We have infinite time
To solve our
Relative problems
Yes,
Still I am
Within the laws of our society
I follow the morals
And practice the values
And practice the laws
Still
Will I do the dishes
(Or not, if I choose)
Will I clean the sewer
Will I fix the rocket ship
But now I understand
Happiness
Infinite, and loosing the bonds of fear
A part of me—
No matter what my circumstances,
Yes
I understand
So shall we all
And look. . .
The dawning
I see the light
The sun is closer
And the. . .
Opening,
My eyes started,
Awake
What a strange dream
I rubbed my eyes
My face
And sitting up
The lady was gone
Standing up
Still waking
"Dreams—
A way of learning—
A way of paying debts—
Enlightening"
Walking
Stretching
Through the door
Entering the sunlight
Sunlight
So warm
The lady in the fields
Among the flowers
Walking
Enjoying
Nature's life in the forest
I approached
"What a strange dream
I have had"
Closer,
Touching her hand
And feeling the sun
"I dreamed of a world
So strange to see
To be
"The people live in worry
Fear
And often they hate
"Happy love is seldom—
Lost in the maze of anxiety"
We sat down
In the grassy field
And listening
We could hear the birds sing
And squirrels chatter,
Not far away
The stream bubbled
And the wind blew lightly
Through the trees—
Life
All about us,
A chorus
"Further
In my dream
I became one of them
I felt what they felt
"Certainly a nightmare
"But gradually
I understood their worries
Fears—And then
The truth of love
And it set me free
I lived with it
And the world seemed right—
The test seemed light
"After waking
However
I began to wonder
About the power
Of love—
Easy to bring freedom
From the lesser fears
And the lesser worries
"But
Does not the light
Of its power
Fold out
Under the cloak
Of death?"
I let go of her hand
And leaned back
I watched a squirrel
Gathering nuts
Preserving Nature
"Oftentimes
I feel you are
The teacher
To lead me straight—
"You speak
Of love and happiness
Yet,
Still I wonder—
How can one retain this love
In the midst of extreme pain
Or
In the midst of a funeral
Of one you dearly need and love?
"Then could
And would
Sadness dominate
"Ah
But saying
Ha
I have the happy love
"Still,
And nevertheless
Sadness is there
"And just when the answer is mine
I see the dawn of the sun
Coffined in blackness
"Oh mourning
Oh morning
Where is the sun?"
Watching the lady
I waited
For an answer;
I remembered
When she stood
Upon the fringe
Saddened by the death
Of her father
"*Let the pain fulfill your debt*"
She said
"*Until you owe no more,
But while it lasts
Endure
Think not on revenge
Dwell not on pain
And cry if you must
Sad
And wail
Unhappy pain
And stain aw
ay the debt
Cry the drying tear
A trail of salt
Trailing the pain
Cry and cry
But let not this
Be your way of life
The collector has collected
The scales have balanced
Be not ready
To run another debt
"*When the stain is done
Take again the happy life
Love and be loved
For you are the demander
And the infinite—
Supplies*"
She paused a moment
And then continued
"*When your loved one
Is lying
Dying
Dead
Cry shortly
And wail not
The woe of sorrow
For you are beings
Individual
With individual lives
With individual demands
And
But soon
You will be together again
For how long is long
Compared to infinite time?*"
"Yes, perhaps"
I said
I pondered her statements
For awhile
But not too long
To ponder away
In a clouded mind
When instead
A sunshine day
That day
And
Utilizing the enjoyment of Nature's warmth
Such a day—
And we talked of things
Further
Lighter
We strolled
And walked the field,
The woods—
This was a way of life
Grandiloquently simple
The day passed
Quickly
It went
Others followed
As always they will
And time passes quickly
When time is enjoyed
We learned new things
And ways
We read books of fact
And fiction (fact)
We read the forest
Tracks and the ways of animals
We explored the signs
Abundant life
We watched the trees in the night
Dim light
Sights the silhouette
The stars and moon
We listened to the wind
Within the forest
We smelled the air
Flowing in the night
We explored the scent of pines
In the paths of our minds
We tasted the honey
Found in trees
To watch the golden fluid
Drip
Dripping dripping
We felt these things—
Aspects of life
We knew these things
And an infinite more
Exist
We lived
We continued
And experienced
For we knew
There is purpose
To life
Sometimes subtle
But there
A simple purpose
In the maze
Of existence
A simple purpose,—
But to live
"Continue
And experience"
I thought
As I picked up a book
To read
"As much as you can
For
This is life"
It was early
Morning
And she had gone
Out
"Even simplicity
For
This is life
"Your love will grow
With experience"
I picked up one
Of her father's notebooks
And within—
A poem
I read quickly
And then again
More slowly
And then again
I did not understand
The significance—
The symbolism
"Perhaps she will know"
I thought
"I shall find her"
I left the cabin
Walking the meadow
The forest
Searching
Looking
I found her
Bathing
In a crystal water pond
I approached
Coming
Closer
The lady of the fringe
"Good morning"
I said
"*A beautiful morning*"
She replied
I sat down upon the grassy edge
And waited
Patient
To show the poem
Soon
She stepped from the pond
Beautiful
And
Happiness tears of the world
Dried in the sun
She rerobed
In white
And sat down
Next to me—
Putting her hand
On my arm
"*Last night
I dreamed a dream*"
She said
"*A warning, perhaps—
But dreams
Are often difficult
To interpret*"
I looked at her
Waiting
"*I saw you
Climbing
The mountain
Of the book;
You were searching
The white peaks,
But, finally
Your body slumped
In the snow
And could not rise
"*I was frightened
For you,
I love you
And
I want nothing
To harm you*"
She put her hand
On my shoulder
"*Please stay away
From the mountain*"
I assured her
I had no reason
For returning
I put my arm
Around her
I watched the pool
Sparkling
For awhile
Then
Changed the subject
Showing her the poem
And reading
Aloud
"THE ROLLIN ROUND
"The rollin round is green
Breathing
Sloping
Rolling
Running
The rollin round is green
"Sometimes it is yellow
Sweltering
Suffocating
Staggering
Slumping
Yellow
"But then it turns colorful
Rotating on rainbows
And throwing its colors laughingly at the sky
Then diving again into a myriad of paints
Only to rise and splash
And throw its colors to the world of beauty
How wonderful
How magnificent
The rollin round
"But then it turns white
Drifting
Sifting
Shifting
Glistening
White
"How curious the rollin round
Turning
Forever turning
Never concerning
"How curious the rollin round
Turning
Forever turning
Never yearning
"How curious the rollin round, green
With its yellow
Its white
And its colors of the rainbow
"How curious
The rollin round
Of colors—
How curious they should want
To make it black"
She looked at me—
Pausing thoughtfully
Then she said
"*This poem
Written by my father
Written for all
To read
To heed
"*A poem of the world
A poem of the seasons
Spring the green
Summer the yellow
Fall the colorful
Winter the white
"*A poem of beauty
The world in Nature
A poem of truth—
There are those
Who would destroy the beauty
The world
The truth
Charred
Burned
Black
The symbol of death
The color of death—
Black
"*It is a poem with a message
For all—
Subtly asking
For the peace
We need*"
I sat silent
Thinking
Gazing
Asking myself
Would they really
Could they destroy
Mutilate
Rid the world
Of
The world?
I wondered
Where?
Why
The reason?
I remained in thought—
Gazing—
And
The silence was peaceful,
But not enough
For the thoughts of destruction
The day became cool
A cool breeze
Blowing
Mountain air—
Shuddering
Disguising warm rays of the sun
Brisk animals ran
Scampering,
Joy
Upon their warm fur
"Shall we browse
The fields of poetry?"
I asked
"Or the fields
Of the forest?"
My question
Brought her back from the other world
In reverie
She laid her head on my shoulder
And her voice
Merriment in the wind
"*Many days
We have been together—
Living
Being
And loving
"*Could it be
It would be forever
It would never end
"*But at last
I see it must—
For a short time
"*I will travel
To the coastal cities—
A mission to teach
Reaching
Trying to show the truth of love
To the people (and those who follow)
Who want the world
Black
"*I have accepted the plan,
But put it off
For our love
"*But
Now
I must go*"
"Simple"
I said
"And I shall accompany you
To the coastal cities—
To go
And to teach
What must be taught"
"*No*"
She said
Looking up at me
The pools of love
Were deep
"*The plan
Is for me
To go
Alone,
"*But soon
We will be together
Again—
Laughing
And living the simple life,
We will have a family*"
She looked into my eyes
And smiled
I could not return
The smile—
I was stunned,
Dismayed by the thought
Of being separated
Finally,
I answered
With sorrow cleverly hidden
"Then
I will wait for you
Here
In the valley"—
A manly voice
She agreed
That that
Would be good
We stood
And walked back
To the cabin
She did a few things
Before she left
Time passed too quickly
And soon she stood upon the path
And
Turning she kissed me farewell
"*Soon
To be together
Again*"
She said
With
The merriment twinkle
Still
And always
In her eyes
She parted
Starting up the path
Leaving
Over the hill
And
Out of sight
The lady of the fringe
Gone
How suddenly it happened