This is it (AJ)
This ground this dream these myths
This time this place this river
We broken people, this ugliness, this empty,
Not yonder, not elsewhere, not the fault of,
None of this caused by causes accessible
To ology, ism or hate;
There’s been no mistake here, no wrong turning:
This is the sum of our fate
This is it
This is where we stand and make choice,
See what we’ve done and accept it as ours,
Read the world till it comes transparent
And then be ready for Voice,
For loosening the grip of matter from our minds:
Re-assertion of the Infinite
Re-admission of the Divine
This is it
This hysteria this ignorance these cages
These times this violence this darkness:
They’re what we believe and feel – written on the world
And when we sicken of looking at shadows
We can look for the light within.
There is light but first we find
What throws the shadows
Bitter reckoning, painful wrestling, guilt
Quite startling, to minds unused to struggle,
Consciences accustomed to blame another.
Ah then the stories become realities
Then the myths grow wings and fly
Then the creatures we tidied away
Come back to sting and cackle and cry
Ah then the mind begins to wander
Then the mask begins to crack
Then one tear that slips unasked for
‘s welcome like mercy to soul on the rack
For see how badly we’ve treated the earth:
We have denied there was feeling in feeling things
We have denied there was life in living things
We have extinguished and mutilated species
We have analysed the adrenalin of frightened creatures
Wearing blinkers, we have said: ‘I can’t see it’.
Clad in iron, we have said: ‘I can’t feel it’.
We have handled butterflies with tongs and said:
‘This is nothing but fragments’.
All to be reckoned, all to be paid for
By each living soul
So
If unsure, then good, for therefore attention
If lost, then good, for therefore find
If pain, then good, for therefore openings
If alone, then good, for therefore listen
If hardship, then good, for therefore strength
If poor, then good, for therefore simple
If death, then good, for therefore birth
