Lay Priest: Perspectives; a poem
For: Michael Rice
Perspectives; yours…mine…
out of shadowland we grasp at
pin pricks of light, claim
a dogma; disclaim another’s…judging…
Within our perspective we judge.
With other brothers, we sought our limits
illumined by the midnight
sun, we probed
community to its
nexus…in an individual’s
dance within his shadows…
Fears and tears, hysteria and laughter
the pulse particularly
deep, communal light particularly
bright, contracts, written on the blackboard sky
with our expanding
light…
Perspectives
commitments to advance
out of a dismal ego swamp, where
light wavers over unsteady images
in the swill of the murky matter?
It is love’s lack…
love’s aftermath, children
drilled, drugged, deadmeat
in the bitterness of perspectives
clotted
in old parental clots, earth rent…
no reverence, ego wreaking ruin of ages
ages old, ages in the learning, burning ages.
Ohhh… Dads! Mothers! Were that you
were here…now – at our fireside even here at our hip…
getting down into these swirling waters.
I’m giving no lip, Dad! Mom! Oh, you two…
please sit and sip with me the peace
that Luna sheds upon our shadows…
There is nothing hidden, hiding here
lost here, here is too much light
within shadows, we can always find
our way out if a mind drops
ego’s needs, if a heart drops
open, if a being lets go of fear…
Beings meet, knowing the old hymns
old rituals, old celebrations innate
picking up all that was forgotten
opening again. Yes, again
opening horizons in the blood
enlivening the pulse…we’re
becoming the
GODS
we are…
That we were destined to be…!
Again… As we were at birth!
Qutbuddin Loren Ruh Smith
10-12-95
Qutbuddin Loren Ruh Smith: I’m 74 years old, born in Tacoma, WA and went to high school in Arcata, CA. I served in the US Army, met my first wife and had our first son in France. I started writing poetry in my first college English class in 1961. I’ve published a book called The Path to The Beloved and I have several books ready to publish. I lived in the Sierras in Grass Valley for 30 years before moving to Albuquerque, NM, last year. My book about fathers and sons called This Child and His Tree will be going to the publishers shortly.
– is a deeply personal issue that everyone decides for himself. Sometimes the price is high, sometimes low. But this is not very important for life. Life is an interesting thing. And the price on Viagra – too.
