Asia’s Rain

She glances quickly
Nobody is watching her
Except a dreamer

An individual only has responsibility to a society in which he has made a conscious choice to participate, and he may choose at any time to remove himself from association with that society.
Societies claim the right to subsume individuals and their rights for the greater good  and further existence of the society.
An individual then should have no qualms about abandoning the needs of the society in order to ensure his own survival and the furtherance of his own interests.
However, at any time a society is free to abandon its societal goals for the sake of the individual and an individual likewise is free to abandon his own self-interest in order to further societal goals.
Which is nobler, the society which sacrifices itself for the individual or the individual who sacrifices himself for the society?

I miss the ocean.  I miss the taste of the salt and the way the currents surge when I am in the water.  I miss that vast feeling of peace and power that emanates from the ocean, the source of all life.
Subconsciously I know that I am tied to that same tidal cycle by the timing of my conception.  I know it is the same cycle by which my own children might come forth if I could find a goddess who is willing to be worshipped thus.
I wonder if I could baptize myself in mother ocean once again if all my sins would wash away.  Or if she would carry me back into her womb and let me float forever in oblivion.

One hand is strong; one hand is weak
One holds a pen; one wipes a tear
Unwritten words, no voice to speak
The strength of love still lingers near

Impatient dancing
shuffling my wooden legs
beneath my hips of flesh–
just don’t look down
keep staring at my face
and occasionally touch my shoulders
and laugh with your eyes
I’ll lean in and say
something foolish or witty
that will be lost
in the crowd of musical vibration
that surrounds our chance encounter
Shit! the music is
fading out

Religion’s position is always between God and the individual.  One of the persistent assertions of religionists is that the position of religion is actually to bring the individual closer to God.  But few religions place any real focus on the individual.  Religions tend to place more focus on societal groups: families, congregations, tribes, nations, etc.  Why?
Does the individual need the religion to bring them closer to God?  Certainly God does not need the religion to become closer to the individual.
God and the individual can commune outside the structure of religion.  Religion actually interferes with the highest possible communion between God and the individual.
To commune with God through a religion only requires one to have faith in the religion–its leaders, its tenets, its doctrines, its mysteries.  To commune directly with God requires true faith in God, including faith in oneself and one’s relationship to God.

I am the path of body, soul, mind, and spirit.
I am the path of action, emotion, thought, and vision.

The way of the body is action.
The way of the soul is emotion.
The way of the mind is thought.
The way of the spirit is vision.

I am the path of strength, beauty, and peace:

Strength in the body,
Beauty in the soul,
Peace in the mind and with the spirit.

Holiness is balance of body, soul, mind, and spirit.
Holiness is harmony of strength, beauty, and peace.

I am the path of holiness.

At three a.m.
when I was sure
that nobody
would see
I walked
from a quaint
bed and breakfast
on River Road
under the Rainbow Bridge
past the deserted
pay binoculars
standing like
dead sentries
in the night
past the gift shop
where they sell
bottled water
and soon-to-be-trash
mementos
at prices
beyond belief
I walked
two point five kilometers
beyond the rim
that spills
into the gorge
below the mist
I slipped
into the woods
marked by danger
and no trespassing
signs
I scurried
to the water’s
edge
exhilirated
at my crime
I dipped
my bottle
quickly
and capped it
with a smile
I taped a bold
handwritten note
upon its side
which read:
Your falls
have been
lessened
Then I pondered
who to
send it
to

My strength is in my practiced cadence
that strides long over pot-holes
and short down intermittent curbs
all equaled out on the long
long straight flat distances
that take me out beyond
familiarity.

I have no memory of this place
the map edge of my mind warns
here be dragons
but my strength is practiced cadence
which pays such scant attention
to my rational/irrational mind
that there is not even
the small laugh of irony.

The pain begins before I am aware of it
as it too is subsumed in
the strength of my practiced cadence
but my doubt is stronger than
my faith
and fear of how much damage
I may do to myself
is only dulled by the knowledge
of my pre-determined time.

As the alarm approaches zero
I wonder if my soul would dissipate?
If I would find the spiral
into some other place
where all I am at present
becomes meaningless–
speed, pain, time, breath
and strength
the earth-bound strength
of my practiced cadence
I am not even torn
or slightly distracted
as the timer beeps
I turn around
and head back
to the place
from which I started.