R.M. Engelhardt's Blog: Burn Brightly, page 9

JESUS ISN’T HERE

 

So the other day

The witnesses came

And knocked upon my door

 

Both dressed in black suits

And they wanted

“Information”

 

They tried to come in

And they tried to hand me pamphlets

And they tried to make me confess

And they kept asking me this

“Have you found Jesus yet?”

So I told them

That I didn’t know anybody named Jesus

And that I didn’t know who he is or where he lives

And that I don’t know anyone named God

Or anybody named “Peter”  “Paul” or even

A Baptist supposedly named “John”

Let alone some woman named

“Mary”, the Pope or anyone else of

Any importance or of any significance

At all.

All I told them was that

I know this guy who lives

Down the block named “Noah”

Who is always in his backyard working

On his boat.

Both of them then looked at

Each other a little bit puzzled,

But they did not seem to believe

My story. And after saying something

About this guy that they were looking

For being quote “My savior” in an annoyed

And confused manner

Left.

So I closed the door and locked it

And then told Jesus that the coast

Was clear and that it was ok for him

To come out from behind my curtains.

“Whew!” That was close he said.

They almost got me that time!

 

I told him “Listen bro” Your secret’s safe with me.

Cross my heart.

Jesus scratched his beard

And made a peculiar face

“Very Funny” he said “Very Funny”

And with a wave of his hand

Made us some more wine

And we got drunk.

________________

~ R.M.

On Myth …

“In older myths, the dark road leads downward into the Underworld, where Persephone is carried off by Hades, much against her will, while Ishtar descends of her own accord to beat at the gates of Hell. This road of darkness lies to the West, according to Native American myth, and each of us must travel it at some point in our lives. The western road is one of trials, ordeals, disasters and abrupt life changes — yet a road to be honored, nevertheless, as the road on which wisdom is gained. James Hillman, whose theory of ‘archetypal psychology’ draws extensively on Greco–Roman myth, echoes this belief when he argues that darkness is vital at certain periods of life, questioning our modern tendency to equate mental health with happiness. It is in the Underworld, he reminds us, that seeds germinate and prepare for spring. Myths of descent and rebirth connect the soul’s cycles to those of nature.”

~ Terri Windling

BUK

 

If it doesn’t come bursting out of you in spite of everything, don’t do it.

Unless it comes unasked out of your heart and your mind and your mouth and your gut, don’t do it.

If you’re doing it for money or fame, don’t do it.

If you’re doing it because you want women in your bed, don’t do it.

If it’s hard work just thinking about doing it, don’t do it.

If you have to wait for it to roar out of you, then wait patiently.

If it never does roar out of you, do something else.

Unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket,

unless being still would drive you to madness or suicide or murder, don’t do it.

Unless the sun inside you is burning your gut, don’t do it.

When it is truly time, and if you have been chosen, It will do it by itself

and it will keep on doing it until you die

or it dies in you.

There is no other way.

And there never was.

 

 

~ Bukowski

http://theghostofpoetryfuture.tumblr.com/post/94880175400/remembering-bukowski-happy-birthday

Today

“The beginning is always today.”

~ Mary Shelley

 

I AM

“I am the beast with a contorted grin, contracting down to illusion and dilating toward infinity, both growing and dying, delightfully suspended between hope for nothing and despair of everything, brought up among perfumes and poisons, consumed with love and hatred, killed by lights and shadows. My symbol is death of light and the flame of death. Sparks die in me only to be reborn as thunder and lightning. Darkness itself glows in me.”

~ Emil Cioran

 

Goodnight Mr. Williams

You Will Be Sadly Missed.

Frank Zappa on The Steve Allen Show March 4, 1963

Alis volat propriis

“Alis volat propriis” ~

Latin for “she flies with her own wings.” For the smart, strong, independent woman who, by virtue of her hard work and determination, has made a place for herself in this world.

WALDEN

Today is the anniversary of the publication of Henry David Thoreau’s

transcendentalist masterpiece “Walden.”

 

Here

“We are here on earth to do good to others. What the others are here for, I don’t know.”

~ W.H. Auden