hit by a poem

I was listening to Boards of Canada’s “Reach For The Dead” at work and out of the blue, lyrics. Words forming that wouldn’t quiet down or pass until I had written them down.

Ok, poem. I hear you.

today I was

plucked out of the

oppression of time

and placed into

the void

vacuum of space

unconscious

for seconds that

stretched into

the expansive

eternity looking into

the distant Eastern

horizon

a place where

floating I could

see everything

forgot nothing

remembered once

I woke to the

operating room

and it was like I had

just

been

born

time logged

seconds on the clock keep on ticking

becoming the minutes on my side

becoming the hours in my bones

in my soul

seconds tick down the seemingly unmanageable

minutes logged in and counted

time i store up

time i collect

days are contained in my body

weeks, months, and years

every time i say

yes okay i can do this now

i will do this now

millions of seconds

how many hours in this part of my wrist?

how many times have my feet done what they needed to?

all time wrapped up into the movements i do

better i get

more capable

i understand more

because of all the seconds, minutes, hours

every day

the special effects of lunar journeys

there’s one sure fire way to get to the moon

she said to me

the invisible ladder

trail of blinking lights

go on

to a syncopated beat

that only a few can feel

those beats are dirty!

is what they say to me

only the voices in my head call me crazy though

pure spirit

pure fire

put into words

breathed over the air

traveling backwards

stumbling

and into clay shaped and smoothed by water

ladder to the moon isn’t the only invisible way

star children grownup and forming a dance troupe

with me

we drift up into the light

hands outstretched

movements coordinated

only the nonsense of a lunatic

what makes the moon tick?

face of a clock

winding it’s hands backwards

until the moment when time is nothing

time is nothing to many beings we can’t see

doesn’t make it less true

my spatial dimensions only matter to those that can’t see

shimmering brilliance

and so yet another dance to the moon

who welcomes us

who loves that crazy talk

just chuckle to yourself

and make the words spin

favorite song

favorite song comes on

static electricity

and the people that know

say yes

hands outstretched to the sky

lights turn to blue

flash to magenta

now’s the time for your best dance moves

or sometimes you just sit back and smile

arms laced in back of your head

close your eyes

nod to the beat

as it transports you

in an instance

for a moment

you’re in the music

you live in it

favorite song knows how to get you

favorite song and the eyes glimmer

something dormant comes alive

something sleeping wakes

and whether you move or not

time stands still as it moves around you

world moves around you

you dance with it

you watch it

you see the symphony before your eyes

see the dance

synchronicity of every moment

perfectly matched with the song

the beat

and you sing

because it hits you deep

play it again

time when it moves

as if memory could call into another time

tap in so deeply

so as

to reveal the moment in a vastly new light

as if time travel

was possible

simply from listening to music

transported

on a journey

or sometimes stationary

the world seems to be compressed in the moment of pause

as if pause was not stopping but slowing down to the point

where slow mo

slow motion into each subsequent movement

at this scale every action is important

every minuscule movement leads to something else

until you look around

and the day whirls once more

spins around you

buzzes

and the littlest subtleties become

intensely beautiful

prayer

the type of prayer that shakes

the type of prayer that moves

the type of prayer that bubbles

the type of prayer that soothes

the type of prayer that speaks words across the boundaries

words into the unknown

the type of prayer

translucent in the light

wavering between boundaries

unimpacted by time

the type of prayer that transcends

the type of prayer that descends into the body

healing the soul

healing hands, feet, mouth, words, mind

the type of prayer that moves

the type of prayer

a gift of life

of breath

of wonder

the type of prayer that hears, honors, sees, knows, touches

the type of prayer that wonders where you are

the type of prayer that connects across great distances

great oceans

great dreams

great beings

of light

linked by hands

the type of prayer that understands

feels deeply

the type of prayer with the type of words that will never die

never die

spanning across time and back

spanning across oceans

spanning across distances great and small

from the mouths of chosen few

the type of prayer that wells deep

nested deep inside

inside

in the inner most part

undoes the lock

leaves the door

open

the type of prayer that heals