THE ESSENCE OF POETRY

Reach down deep, deep,
to the very core inside yourself,
for that which is born
of love and tears,

search incessantly for the words
that go beyond the uttermost passion
of thought, memory, dreams, and emotion,

tinge it with
air and fire, tree and cloud
desert and sea, mountain and chasm,
earth and sky, sun and moon and stars,

saturate it with heaven and hell,
with the dark eternal enigma of death,
with the soaring exhilaration of being fully alive,

colour it with
the vivid synergy of
the conscious and the subconscious,
of sunshine and rain,

imbue it with
the rapid slow motion
of primordial futurity,

scour the mind
for the perfection
of vision and meaning,

be sage and scholar,
madman and fool,
visionary and dreamer,

write it down,
as if a new glowing god
at the apex of creation
in the obscure clarity of universe,

as you would a conch shell
to hear the ocean,
hold it to your ear
to hear it breathing,

hold it up into the light,
like viewing a coloured negative film slide,
or the stark exposure of an x-ray,

speak it out loud, with whisper and scream,
in the silent stillness of reason
and in the crashing thunder of insanity,

view it with naked eyes
until you feel it's beauty and wonder,
fresh and immaculate and expanding,

read it over and over
until it is pulsing in the blood
that is flowing through your veins,

now take the paper
it is written upon,
rip it to shreds and throw it away,
scatter it upon the wanton wind,

keep it in secret, sacred viscera,
in internal sanctuary and salvation,
so that it stays within you,

and transforms you into a luminous spirit
that transcends this existence,
that shines from inside out
in raw beautiful purity,

burn it deep in your heart,
burn it deep into your very soul,
so that it is

always
and
forever

a part of you.

January 24, 2006