The Great Before
Long time past, I tumbled, twisted and turned
in dark space, only a speck, a conscious thought
part of a mineral mass hurtling
on a never-ending path
away from our star's radiating warmth.
In the cool darkness before
I could not see.
Taken from my spinning content,
thrust into life,
filled with wonder that I could be.
Unremembered adventures now passed
are still faint in my mind.
I cried with fear from long not being
consoled only by a warm caress.
Then my heart lifted, awakened to the evening lanterns
that illuminated my beloved Kaifeng city
my intellectual home, my Karmic delight.
Once again the cycle changed
and with it too I went.
Then the beating sun across the Nazca desert plane
as again I fell into life's first breath.
Domination over others my ego's refrain.
Powerful legs propelled my run into battle
as I greeted my next death.
Then deep in darkness, the sea around us all,
Nubian labored breath was close amidst the storm,
so hard we rowed.
A quickened pulse in fear as I gasped
and finally submitted to drink the sea.
Nothing meant anything to me,
thoughts only a blur of a dimming past.
Now, feelings persist even though
I cannot tell you why.
The new day strikes me
with a blast of light.
The now has meaning,
the after, eternally bright.
Note: Tribute poem to David Whyte, British/Irish writer, poet, thinker.
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