Threaded throughout this poem
is a network of understanding
in
a universe of attachments:
untie untether unite

I was a raven once
bumping along on two legs
blundering around in the dark
talking Raven talk

I was enigmatic

I was a spruce needle once
floating down the stream
waiting to see
who might swallow me

I was enigmatic

I was a young woman once
filled with wonder, attitude,
and
matriarchal potential

I was enigmatic

Then I was a pregnant young woman
filled with wonder, attitude,
and a womb full of
growing child

We were enigmatic

Just as one becomes two,
remember this is true:
Raven brings agency
and misunderstanding

And agency is quite enigmatic

Because agency
is the action that changes
landscapes over time
like water through a canyon

And landscapes of the mind are enigmatic

When Trickster becomes kin,
is a good space to begin ...
with the future rarely clear
and end times always near

By the
moon,
stars,
and Sun,

At
least
we have
perspective

And perspective is forever enigmatic

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

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
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

when rhymes start poppin'
and beats start flowin'
it's probably a sign
that it's time to get going
maybe just maybe even

((( CAUSE A COMMOTION )))

Now
is the time
where the hero-self
starts bubbling up
which is the time to start stepping
stepping out of prison
and into presence

You'll know cause
it be all
effervescing like:
pop, pop, pop

as you turn around, have a see
look up and down
at the old me
and let me confess

I don't like what I used to be

at the same time
we should also admit
that we love that man-boy too
cause he was me and he was you

You see:
he was an egocentric
and a pretender
who was never ever ever gonna be a contender
and let's realize
that to linger to long
is how our past pulls us out of song
:::
refuse to lose that ******
now turn front and centre
leg go
and just
trust, trust, trust

Getting wide awake on these energies?
Let's ride these waves (if you please)

<now flow effortlessly
through gross machinations
until energies fizzle
and bond to the enormity
of post-structural Western conformity>

I figure it's time
to unsettle debts:
Consternation? Plebiation? Colonization?
What about Subjugation?

:::: THE ONLY WAY OUT ::::
:::: SEEMS TO BE WITHIN ::::

What's wrong with the world today
is that we are sleepwalkin'
<through a lucid dream
of our own creation
while considering
life as profane>

Unfurl your flag
let the mystery free
rise up your fist and shout
Pleiades, Pleiades, I can hear you sing
It's time for us Humans
let's bring down that sweet thing

If you can't put your finger on what happens next
it goes something like this:

We've all been waiting for that
lighthouse bringer, that aetheric singer,
the someone who was willing to point the finger
we just didn't think it was going to be a ginger

Go back to sleep and when you awake
Maybe then you'll know
who's the medicine keeper

If you never learned nothing from Pablo Picasso
is that it ain't no fun being like a big a**hole

Just funnin' Pablo, don't take no offence
love it how you went swinging for fence
every time you woke up
to live in that moment
it's what you saw and
how you saw it
that makes me feel
~ raw, raw, raw ~

I tried to deconstruct your craft:
it deconstructed me
the only way out of that enigma
was to twist myself up into a new reality

And here
I am sitting
my flag unfurled
in my missed fortune
lost in-between
feeling unseen

A look in the mirror reveals a fractured self
a person separated from collective wealth:
Well forget this!

It Is Time For Health

living with
dying with
scars

inflicting ~ conflicting
scarred landscapes en-
trained and eroding

pain transporting
grain by grain
these mountains re-framing
and eventually flowing
on to base level and the
Ocean of love

life without scars is anomalous
like a Sun with no aurora

perfectly imperfect
just as life is:
beautiful
a beautiful reminder
of mortality
mirrored in the fluid
dance of the eternal

heaven sent or heaven spent

its never misspent
in post-recompense
morphic resonance

So...
stand
hold space
think about direction
wonder why
then
get ready to fly

I
am of
vulnerability
authenticity
empathy
fun and
assertion.

I
am of
devotion
humbleness
health
tolerance and
skill.

I
am of
perseverance
learning
pathology
deviance and
contrivance.

I
am of
purging
expanding
contracting
worth and
contrition.

I
am of
polity
deference
you
me and
verbosity.

I
am of
humour
kindness
kindred
kin and
Ki.

I
am of
the earth
the wind
the fire
the driving rain and
the glaciers crevasse.

Who am I?

I
am
one of your tribe and
I need you tonight.

In a meadow of wildflowers
under a warm blanket of alpine aromas,
a gusting front gives warning
of impending change yet we sit, observing
as the sun also rises into the moons embrace

/                        been                       \
/                      thoughts                    \
|                           my                           |
|                         have                          |
|                  LANGUAGE                  |
|                           my                           |
|                            by                            |
|                 INFLUENCED                 |
|                              is                             |
|                            feel                            |
|                              or                              |
|                              do                              |
|                              or                              |
|                            want                            |
|                              or                              |
|                              say                             |
|                                i                                |
|                             that                             |
/                     EVERYTHING                     \
/                                   if                                   \

                  
^                                   ^                                ^
^                                   ^                                ^
^                                   ^                                ^
| language instructs | the way we think |
^                                   ^                          ­      ^
^                                   ^                                ^
^                                   ^                          ­      ^

I saw a good person do a bad thing once
I thought I was a good person but I did a bad thing once, too

Have you ever seen a good person do a bad thing?
Have you ever been the good person doing a bad thing (on occasion)?

Have you ever seen...
<>the bars that imprison you?<>

Have you ever been...
<>the bars that imprison you?<>

There is a potential to be stuck behind the words & letters...
of this Song to the Open Road

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

But look at the stars

|               |               |               |

And look at the bars

|A|n|d| |re|a|l|i|z|e| |t|h|e| |j|a|i|l|e|r| |i|s| |y|o|u|

In the crows nest
Wind burnt and ruddy
From past navigational
Errors. Wearing stripes earned
While traversing the
Luna Sea

I see a new world
It smells as fresh
As a newborns
Head, and
As promising as a

:::Higgs Boson:::

Unwinding paired bases
And just-in-cases
Leaving no traces, and
Sharing open spaces

A gossamer trail,
it seems, might
~prevail~

Take YOUR medicine
Own your medicine
Be the medicine you want to see in the world

I was de~meaned once
And I enjoyed it

I am not a sadomasochist
However, I do like being further from average

Delusions of
Futures untold
Created for
Us, you know: the un-bold

Braying our compulsions
To the big ear in the
Sky
As we seek:

Glor if i ca tion
Being meek likely won’t bring
Gra tif i ca tion
Dulling my senses points to
Stu pif i ca tion
But don’t I deserve it, ain’t i a
Hall u cin a tion

So why put in the work?
Let’s wait

<<<PAUSE>>>

The avalanche will find us in perpetuity
Coming in time cause we been shirking duty
Oh, there it is - it’s time for us to be:
Aggrieved

Shoulda known better but we was:
Deceived

IlWanted to tell my truth, wanted to be:
Believed

Shoulda kept something up my:
Sleeve

So how do you rise above?

Do you got what it takes?
Could you climb your
Kilamanjaro?
With a little training maybe
And a Gut check: to find your bravado
Wouldn’t it be nice to have your own number,
Just like Avogadro

Let’s ask again,
How do you rise above?

Breathe it in
Seethe it in
Find a vessel to
Conceive it in
Now that it’s full
And overflowing

Now let it go

Trying to find answers in a bottle
Could point you toward
A 12 step mis-step

Getting back on the right track:

Use a compass
That’s internal
Realign it, maybe
Through a vernal
Equinox, the universe speaks a language
We are untaught
It’s of the Earth and Sky and
Can’t be bought
Maybe it’s me and
Maybe it’s not
I want to commune with my god
Through thought and
Heartfelt overtures that aren’t constrained
By limitations of my brain
Or systems based on economics
My value is not gleaned from
Gross Domestic Products

Answers are found as you expand past the vessel
You may become part of the trestle
Follow the false path long enough
And you get trod under
The false pathfinder becomes the path,
Did you make a few to many navigational errors
Cause you didn’t do the math
And now, as a part of the foundation of which the unending wayfarers
Can use to go a little further and a little longer in the wrong direction
Your hard work has become a bridge to nowhere
But let’s not dwell, cause

Scrupulosity
Will never guide you to the golden city

Maybe its the meat suit that you’re wearing
The overcomplexity of your eyes
That won’t let you see
The unending nerve endings that make you feel so much
You can’t feel, you won’t feel
You could pay heed to Seneca
Consider giving the suit a slip
Taking a trip
Through the underworld
With everybody’s favourite sidekick: Virgil
Kickin’ it, workin’ it
Trying not to let the lost souls hold you down
Throw you down
Now it’s time, let’s start coming around

On my journey, seems
I can’t shake em’
Me, myself, and my shadow-self
Guess I’ll try and integrate em’

Time for a va ca tion
From thoughts that won’t un-
wind, in breezes

Gonna get around to it, to
Writing my treatise
Maybe I can elucidate this false peace
Via an army of one, en masse
Slipping through the bars of false
Beliefs
As the trees
Lose their leaves

Maybe for the last time

I'm working on the unwind
From a labyrinth that is unkind
So sorry:
Guess I'm playing up the sublime

Ah, never mind - it’s
Navel gazing
Self hazing
I ain’t done razing

Roofs and
Telling truths
Or drinking
Vermouth
Cause at my very root I am
Uncouth

Razing?
Or raising!
Roofs
Finding proofs
Telling truths

Ever listen to Ruf-
Us or Martha
The Wainrights
Canadian brain-trust
Listen too hard make your brain bust

Let’s get back to navels, or
Oranges
But nothing rhymes with oranges
Maybe not
Gotta flip it
Tryna strip it
This noose is so tight
Can I slip it?

It’s geometrical
Said Euclides
We got the Greeks
Or do the Greeks got us
Squeezing us into this euro-centric
Box
Can it be un-wrapped?
Can you un-rap this poem?

Busting brains
And taking names
No one to blame, I
Don’t feel ashamed
When I win
Just means I can take it
In my shin
It’s got nothing to do with my
D N A, eh
Nor the choice piece of geography
I made the conscious choice to arrive on,
genetically

But remembering brevity
It’s time to cut the rambling for the sake of levity
Speaking of sake, I wouldn’t mind some saké

Oh, what’s that:
~~~ boom ~~~
Pulled another one out of my medicine bag

Just sitting here

Shifting gears
Confronting fears
Yesterday I was

Bleak
Er

Meek
Er

Should have been a
Streak
Er

Laying out the facts that are
untold
Thanks for listening to me
Another one of the
un-bold

Be silent

Consume

Die