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in this state ...
we follow the drum
dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum

it's a baseline from the numinous
rooted in the luminous
dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum

it's consciousness expanding
and selfishness unbounding
dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum

this thrombosis is cyclical
inspired spirals are psychical
dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum
INTRO
As I climb from base misery
to the mountain tops of self-mastery
I'm reminded that to remove my mask
pre-cedes these odes to flow

VERSE:
I had found myself
On the fields of defeat
Where the corridors of power
Never seem to meet

VERSE:
You see, I had lost myself again
In that merciless unwind
It's not a new place for me
But it's been working me over time.

CHORUS:
I don't mind the mountain tops
It's where I long to go
I don't mind the mountain tops
It's where my stories flow

VERSE:
and I told myself again
It's time to let it go
Gotta just allow for it
For that short pause, for the plateau

CHORUS:
Cause I don't mind the mountain tops
It's where I come and go
I don't mind the mountain tops
It's where my stories grow

VERSE:
So I told myself again
It's time to mend and sew
Gotta try and re-learn those things
I forgot to know

CHORUS:
I don't mind the tops but
It's the valleys where I rest
No, I don't mind the tops but
It's the valleys I like best

POSTSCRIPT:
We don't mind the mountain tops
Cause from there we flow and flow and flow
Original written on February 27, 2020.
Writing a poem is about locating self.
Every facet within what you’re about to create
blooms from your consciousness, your subconsciousness
your ego, your mind, your heart

But where are those elements planted?
Where are they rooted?

They are rooted within:

your ethnocentric illusions
your lived reality
your privilege, your pleasure, your pain
your abilities, your disabilities
your socioeconomic status: have and/or havenot
your fluency, your empathy, your sense of humour
your vices and your storytelling devices

Now we've got some roots, what are we going to grow?
Let’s begin by observing, using our senses
Maybe, let’s use our eyes
Consider, the reality of how we see and sense the world
Is different for each and every one of us

Everything is tempered by the lens we use
Which is informed through the roots of our synapses
Which empirically flow from the subjective ground
On which we stand

And what does this have to do with poetry?
What you describe in your poem,
Is an interpretation of what you see (and feel)

Interesting poetry comes when
there is exploring to do
It is a poet’s imperative to
Explore the edges
Out past the boundaries of the visual and audible spectrum

If we were fish poet’s
Would we write poetry about water?

I like to toy with my teenagers on occasion
So I asked my son the other day, what his worldview was?
And I have been enjoying the vacuous silence ever since
To be fair, I have been asking myself the same question for many years
And this might have been the inciting incident leading me to storytelling

As we began this journey together, it was stated that
Writing a poem is about locating self.
Can you describe your context?

Let me attempt to describe mine:

Here I am on the stage in this ocean of air
At the Owl Acoustic Lounge
On a Wednesday night in May
Popping air with rhythm, nuance, and a certain je ne ce quoi

Although this poem is not objectively true
Let me attempt to share that
this poem blooms from my developing cosmology
From the overtures of my Overself;
from the undercurrents of the Monomyth,
From my ***** and through my groans of intercession
This poem blooms from oblivion
Threading through philosophy, to worldview, and into a budding cosmology

For myself:
Worldview fell away when I found cosmology while reconnecting with the night sky
That night sky took me places while grounding me concurrently in inner spaces
Where locating self flows into meta-cognitive health,
Well ... that is something to write about
Preparing for Shakaat Artist-in-Residency. Performed at the Owl Acoustic Lounge on May 24, 2023.
Its a sweetgrass serenade
singing up serotonin
through the cavalcades
and ramparts
that I have been using to
barricade my heart

It's a sweetgrass serenade
when I let those sweet words
slip off my tongue
just like syncopated honey
into the three-stranded braid
of me and you and Him
taking us into those outer places
where we can occupy other spaces

It's a sweetgrass serenade
on our journey to the moon
where I wonder who
is following me cause
on our way back

I'm feeling the exodus
of my past, you know
the part that
no longer serves me.

And in its place...

It's a sweetgrass serenade
singing up serotonin
filling up that empty pocket
with a force of positivity.

Looks like I found a Lifeway
time to let it shine and
step into deep play
Written in August 2019. Performed at open mic night at the Owl with the Lethbridge Poetry crew on August 29, 2019.
Din
Seeking that good kinda din
where I can sit and think again
while sipping my dragonfly gin
letting that distilled infusion
be my medicine
and something not necessarily harmful
to the spirit within

Seeking that good kinda din
where I can sit and think
a remembering why kinda place
so I rode my old bike down
down to my favourite river fork
to offer up gifts
to the Old Man and St Mary
I was grooving with
that sweet and heady inshallah vibe

Just grooving with those
sweet and hearty Inshala vibes
making me feel the opposite of heavy
when a higher self popped up
to remind, treasures buried become
weathered and harried
so I sat down, slipped my shoes and socks off
breathed in deep and got ready

Seeking that good kinda din
where the consciousness be growing again
the kind, you know, where its kinda
like a begin again
Written in August 2019. Performed at open mic night at the Owl with the Lethbridge Poetry crew on August 29, 2019.
What is a mother willing to do?

bleed rhythmically in preparation for you
search relentlessly in preparation for you
fail unflinchingly in preparation for you

eventually, when the time is right
accept the seed in preparation for you
build a nest in preparation for you

This is a universe in motion

Now her body changes as she grows you, and
from her heart she nourishes you
gaia (mythology): http://bit.ly/1ux60jI
Written October 2014

what is a father willing to do?

This poem pairs nicely with https://hellopoetry.com/poem/887692/father-sky/
What is a father willing to do?

bleed arrhythmically in preparation for you
search relentlessly in preparation for you
fail unflinchingly in preparation for you

eventually, when the time is right
provide the seed in preparation for you
help build a nest in preparation for you

This is a universe in motion

Now his mind stretches as she grows you, and
He gives his heart as she nourishes you
uranus (mythology): http://bit.ly/10K6GqI
Written October 2014

What is a mother willing to do?

This poem pairs nicely with https://hellopoetry.com/poem/887681/mother-earth/
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