The Return Path

The dust that swirls ahead,
The laden treasure of a worldly quest,
Gems that fall into the deserted ground,
As my limbs ache and my eyes strain,
Caves that glisten with their wares,
A world of opportunity,
Plundered with missionary zeal,
In a storm of forgtefulness,
Have I now the strength for the return path?

When this chill night draws in,
I cower with my claims of success,
And trade with these desperate pilgrims,
And we feel the hollowness of a conditional love,
We hear the demons that clamour for our souls,
As the camp fire smoulders,
Have I the strength for the return path?

Though I came to teach,
I forgot to learn,
Though I was given a map,
I became a lazy guide,
Though my first steps were true,
My grip grew frail,
For I granted reailty to a craven world.

Yet I know that a miracle is but a choice away,
I know that a dream takes a second to complete,
I know that the door remains open, unlocked,
The return path is here, broad and intact.

And lo, as I smile and turn away,
Fearing the solitude of toil and trek,
I feel a rush and a joy and a sudden peace,
For here are you all resplendent and made up,
Checked out, clean shaven and brimming with glee,
Let us set out my friends for heaven awaits our call,
As we surge and sway on this homely course,
A crowd that throngs on the returning path.

(I was reminded of this poem when talking to a colleague about the work of Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was a student of mythology and developed the concept of the monomyth or 'Hero's Journey' which identifies the various stages involved in the heroic life - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey. Campbell suggested that these steps could be oberved in all cultures throughout history. He broke down the 'heroic' cycle into 17 steps with various poetic titles such as 'The Call to Adventure', 'The Road of Trials' and 'The Magic Flight'. Step 15 is called 'The Crossing of the Return Threshold' and, in hindsight, I realise that this poem was written from this place on the journey. A quote from the above Wikipedia article summarises this step as follows-'The trick in returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to share the wisdom with the rest of the world. This is usually extremely difficult.' And later, in the same article, I came across the stuning beauty of the following description of the final stage 'Freedom to Live' - "The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is. 'Before Abraham was, I AM.' He does not mistake apparent changelessness in time for the permanence of Being, nor is he fearful of the next moment (or of the 'other thing'), as destroying the permanent with its change. 'Nothing retains its own form; but Nature, the great renewer, ever makes up forms from forms. Be sure that nothing perishes in the whole universe; it does but vary and renew its form.' Thus the next moment is permitted to come to pass." . What more could I possibly add to that?!)

The Long Goodbye

Heavy with the long goodbye,
The hollow smile of a parting guest,
A flare disappears into the empty sky,
And now this fragile paper mountain,
The fruit of our love, our favourite re-creation,
Floats into a hostile and blatant world,
My dream, my baby, my work of art,
I see you plundered under the trampling feet,
Let go like a poem written, lost and never read,
And though the tears tumble across the page,
Though I ache from this endless shedding skin,
I still button my coat,
Still shine my shoes,
In readiness for a bold and future step,
For this is who I am and this is who you wanted me to be,
Heavy with the long goodbye.

(This poem is about letting go and loss. I wrote it when I was grieving for my Mother who died of cancer three years ago. So it is, on the one hand, about losing something in particular ('The hollow smile of a parting guest') and, on the other, about letting go of anything you care about a great deal ('My dream. my baby, my work of art'). Whilst some may find it a depressing poem, I hope others will find the purity of its sadness uplifting. Once let go, the world does what it needs to do and you do what you need to do. Your inner fragility confronts an external world of relentless happenings. But somehow you find strength to face into the future.The poem ends with a resolute steadfastness, a defiant personal declaration. What you let go taught you something very important, like a Mother that long ago taught you how to button your coat, how to shine your shoes. These lessons never leave you. They are eternal in you.)

Beyond the Bridge

Beyond the bridge lies the ocean,
Majestic in its scope and depth,
Beyond the bridge lies the final step,
The creational freedom of our dreams,
And though I dance with you, with the waves,
Though I feel the salty spray on my burning lips,
I am also that which holds us, defines us,
In its all encompassing embrace,
Though I feel the movement of my earthly limbs,
I am also humming with the joy of the absolute,
I am that I am,
The Alpha, the Omega and all that's inbetween,

So with this choice we become the causal field,
The creator and the created,
The architects of our world,
With this choice we bless ourselves,
And let go the final threads,
And as we leap high above the waves,
With the glee of our evolution,
We mirror the steps of our predecessors,
Evolutionary strategists all,
The insect, the fish, the amphibian,
The reptile, the mammal, the human being,

Beyond the bridge lies the truth,
A new being waits to greet us,
It is you and I and them,
Beyond the bridge lies the truth,
The great homecoming of Man.

(A grand poem for sure. What could be grander than this vision for the human race? A vision that we will replace ourselves one day with that which will  follow us, that which is to come. A 'beta' version, a better version. And that this will happen as an inevitable, thoughtless by-product of our consciousness rather than as part of some grandiose human plan. For that is what has always happened on the evolutionary trail. The poem is written from the perspective of being 'in the sea' with the fish at the time when the first one of these leapt out of the water and discovered a 'new world' - the world beyond the ocean that consisted of something we later decided to call 'air'. How strange that must have been for that first fish 'out of water', how freaky! And with only gills with which to 'breathe'. Not a world in which that fish could yet survive but a world that it would never forget having glimpsed. And how would it talk about that glimpse to its fellow fish in a watery way? With great difficulty I assume. Maybe through a fishy poem or two he/she had a go. But inside that fish and inside every fish, an evolutionary vision had been created and was stirring itself. The genie was out of the bottle, the fish was out of the water and the amphibian was already more than just a dream.....) 

Partnerships

Your turn to score the goal,
Not for competition or petty ties,
But rather to humble me with your skill,
Your turn to score the goal,
Not as a test or a silly game,
Not for anything more,
Than to keep me an equal in your eyes,
For I will not provide the help that creates dependency,
I will not create a pedastal to deny you who you are,
I will not be a 'great leader' who diminishes the common spirit we share,
Your turn to score the goal.

My turn to pass the ball,
Not for lack of guts or selflessness,
But rather to play a different role,
My turn to pass the ball,
Not as a test or a silly game,
Not for anything more,
Than to keep you as an equal in my eyes,
For I love to watch you score your goals,
I love to see you being who you are,
Creating a pedastal from which you will shout,
"My turn to the pass the ball!"

(Like 'The Hinterland', this is a poem about relationships. It is only through relationships that we can experience who we are. 'The Hinterland' spoke of the risk of dominating or being dominated in our relationships. 'Partnerships' describes an alternative mode - a mode where the relationship has gone beyond dependency and independence to inter-dependence. It is no coincidence that the company Bill Barry and I co-founded in 2004 is called '121partners' for it is partnership relationships that we aspire to create with each other, with our clients and with our colleagues. Partnerships are the essence of the 'flat' organisation, which is much spoken about as a structure but not as clearly understood as a set of behaviours in my experience. The poem uses the metaphor of a sports team to describe a partnership relationship. The goal scorer is interchangeable and the goal-scorer refuses to be the only person scoring the goals even though they could monopolise that role if they wanted to. As in sport so in leadership where the 'great leader' can monopolise that leadership role denying others and themselves the opportnuity to work in a genuine partnership of shared responsbility. As the poem alludes, the motivation for 'passing the ball' is 100% focused upon refusing to 'buy into' a belief system that puts one person above another, that creates pedastals from which people fall. As Marianne Williamson says in her wonderful book 'A Return to Love' - '..and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.' ( see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-Love-Reflections-Principles-Miracles/dp/0722532997/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257413537&sr=1-1 ))