Fainting

Shock of pain,
then shock of shock,
and a struggle to keep the lamp steady and lit;
but darkness overtook, nonetheless.

An intervening interval,
until remembering remembering,
and to remember now again.

Remembering now,
light returned,
not all at once,
but in pieces pixel-like,
flickerings fluttering on,
cascading upwards
as from the bottom of a canvas
to the top of a landscape,
until the world was back,
as painted by the mind’s eye.

What of that interval,
one cannot know for certain;
but the soul remembers of the darkness
a relief at finding restful peace,
and a longing to remain there.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Bell Jar Studies

5.

called up the mountain,
beyond the ring of clouds,
to a place beyond place,
and into the ring of fire.

brought to the summit,
the eyeglass of the world,
where dwells the Holy One,
to be the eyes of God.

the price of this vision,
once the audience is over,
is the pilgrim’s blind return
to lead by inner sight.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Chain Reactions

Earthquakes, tsunamis, boardroom shakeups and union busting. What do these have in common? People.

We are part of an interconnected web of existence, as much as we want to believe that we are untouchable islands living in hermetically sealed bell jars.

The planet is a living system, people are living systems, and the natural world is a web of life so intricate, it will never be fully understood.

There are people in the world whose only thought is greed-driven toward accumulation of material wealth. Corporations are given the same status as living beings, but let me note for the record: there is no life there but the life of the thief who steals under the cover of night.

The governor of Wisconsin is paving the way for collective bargaining to be a thing of the past, the conservative wing of the Wisconsin legislature is engaged in union busting, and the President of the United States says nothing about any of this.

We have a class of politicians that works for the banks, the insurance companies and other corporate interests, many of which do their banking abroad, rather than in the U.S.

Regulation and oversight are abandoned as archaic.

There are people who tell us that we must live by sets of values. These are the people who are eroding and eliminating systems that work for the benefit of people and planet. These very people spew the rhetoric, but do whatever they want. These people are inhumanists. Their actions cause destructive chain reactions that ripple through the natural world, leaving paths of devastation in their wake.

I mention this because we live on a small, rare planet. No matter what we humans do to one another, nothing will ever trump nature. So take that, you inhumanists!

For a number of weeks, I have followed the articles in the papers about earthquakes. You can view information about earthquakes that have happened worldwide at this web address:

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/

The most fascinating thing is the pattern that is so very clear of where earthquakes most frequently occur. As long as two weeks ago, I had seen a pattern of activity that led to the big New Zealand quake. It looked very much like a chain reaction. I wondered if there would be other large quakes along the typical quake pattern lines. That question was answered today, as devastation continues to ripple through the natural world, leaving paths of devastation in its wake.

Let us all say a prayer for the people, worldwide, who are suffering from shock in one of these devastated areas. Let us all say a prayer for the people, worldwide, who are becoming further marginalized by corrupt politicians. Let us say a prayer for the children who have been orphaned and left homeless because a natural disaster killed their parents.

More, let us say a prayer for all the inhumanists, that their hearts of stone will become hearts of flesh, filled with compassion for the needs and well-being of others.

Let us pray that the inhumanists will one day become wholeheartedly human.

If such a day dawns, that will show that human-beings have finally evolved from their primitive childhood.

Bamboo Days

By the stream,

you stand quietly,
rising to the sky.

Toward the sun
by day, and
toward the moon
by night,
in steady strides
no wind can deter,
you ascend
on the Way.

The bubbling waters
sing their praises,
while breezes
assist your
modest bow.

The mountains
and the waters
smile on you
as you meditate.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

I had a lesson in brush painting at the SF Asian Art Museum today.

Vibrations

All work folds in on all work,
like silken wind tossed waves in a field of corn.

Tend it well, tend it lovingly;
the yields will be of inestimable value.

From thought to mind,
from quill to parchment,
from symbol to sound,
your thoughts rise up
to shape the world.

Speak the world beautiful!

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

in honor of International Women's Day

Bell Jar Studies

4.

In the omphalos-domed cathedral,
the priestly voice rises and falls like thunder,
while the choir sounds like soft rain.

The thunder quakes and crackles,
producing tones that are like bombs,
full of metal and fire,
electric and quivering,
but not with life.

The thunder is so full
that no words can be discerned;
as such, no meaning is conveyed.

Nevertheless,

the People sit,
to honor the place
and the time
as holy.

Corporately, however,
attention tends to drift toward
the softness of the rain.

The rain swirls and drifts upward,
then settles downward prayerfully,
upon any spirit,
like a healing salve.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Witness

Points of light play on water;
jewels and precious gems, they are,
dazzling the eyes.

Orderly lines of birds fly,
evolving via ascension,
involuting via descension,
skimming the ablutive waters.

Breath stands, lightly poised,
free to choose silence or song.

Silence in points of light,
bodies flowing through water,
song of joy rising from nothingness:

Perfect love offerings to eternal Witness.

© 20011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen