Freedom to Live

Wingspan unknown this golden bird,
Colonies diverse in stale undergrowth,
Leaves that sway, reeds that bend,
Sounds of the deepest, bluest seas,
Gait of the man with nothing to lose,
Ripple of the water in a cup of tea,
View from the bridge, the mountain, the pier,
Taste from the spice, the sauce, the lube,
Touch of an angel, still by my side,
Glimpse of a future, certain and free,
Blessing of a son who is taller than me,
Beating of a heart deep inside of thee,
Fingers in the pie, pennies in the stream,
This the rising chorus of a sensual parade,
This the flooded plain of my consciousness,
The glory, the beauty, the sheen of pain,
This the puzzle, the picture, the place inbetween,
The sense, the nonsense, the proliferate world,
The panoply, the pandora, the gaping box,
Bulging, splitting, stretching from its full countenance,
Timeless, endless, wordless peace,
The freedom to live,
And the freedom to die,
Asleep in your arms,
Asleep in your arms,
The freedom to live,
And the freedom to die,
Asleep in your alms,
Asleep in your alms.

(This poem is an indulgent play on words. It is a rush of phrases that initially appear to have no real connection. Yet it is immensely sensual - sights, sounds, tastes, touches. It is uplifting in its scale and range. The reader feels like they are being taken on some grand tour of natural reaility - a thrilling perspective, a sensual parade. With this airborne lightness comes a bursting, exhilarating freedom - the freedom to live. As in many of my poems, the unconscious is siezing its moment to take over the controls and 'flood' the mind with its unique, mysterious, eternal vision. It quickly sidesteps words and subtitutes a level of real experience that is excruciating in its intensity. Finally, the conscious mind is overhwelmed and falls asleep. A deep sleep. Asleep in your arms - who's arms? Asleep in your alms. Alms? - 'In Buddhism, alms or almsgiving is the respect given by a lay Buddhist to a Buddhist monk, nun, spiritually-developed person or other sentient being. It is not charity as presumed by Western interpreters. It is closer to a symbolic connection to the spiritual and to show humbleness and respect in the presence of normal society.The visible presence of monks and nuns is a stabilizing influence. The act of alms giving assists in connecting the human to the monk or nun and what he/she represents'. ). Bless you.