<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto">Wow!<br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Aug 31, 2023, at 15:31, Riantee Rand via Thespiritexpress <thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"><div style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">The Beach</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">is where the wild things are,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">where glinting-eyed tigers sit around bonfires</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">listening to stories coming out of the bag,</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">the bag of the raconteur who joins our camp circle</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">and manifests sailboats, sirens and sea monsters</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">then unfurls an ocean and navigates a caravel</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">into those fanciful times </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">when a hero in a barrel </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">trusted himself to the wild, wild sea.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">On her island, the hero's white Lady, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">waited patiently, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">spinning away the thread of his return,</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">spinning to the rhythm of the surf,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">the cries of seabirds, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">sitting still, she spun his destiny.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">Only fishing could relieve the Fisher King</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">from the aching burn </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">in his damaged genitals.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">Life wounds young males, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">scorches adolescent pride;</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">teacher's scorn shatters, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">father's sarcasm cripples.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">The slayer of a child's trust will be thrown </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">into the ocean deep, the holy book tells us,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">for water washes away </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">the sins of the fathers.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">Nothing concealed or set in concrete </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">on wild beaches, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">nothing defined or contained,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">no manly erection.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">And we can sink our feet </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">deep in the sand, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">dredge up our lost voice</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">and plunge into the one-memory-for-all.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">How will we ever find out if brightly capped birds</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">sleep with their heads tucked under their wings,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">and how will we translate the song of the seal,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if we cannot reach down </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">to the metaphors, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">the similes, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if nothing can be like something else,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if we cannot stand on the border </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">where we see ourselves as others?</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">How can we ever cease to be biology, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">explode the anatomy </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">and flow where sand meets water, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">be other </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">than the words we constantly speak </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">about ourselves </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">to a mirror</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if wild things </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">are chased away from our beaches?</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">When lions and tigers </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">no longer sit at our campfire.</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">who will draw the Lady's island back in sight,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">entice her to join the mainland?</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">How can we ever take any chance, risk a change,</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if we are not allowed to sleep under the purring of the stars, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">attached, like strings to a kite, </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">to their odysseys, their fantasies</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">as they unravel the precise anarchy </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">in the dreamer's mind? </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class=""> </span></p><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">And how will we know about the wild face of God</span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">if we cannot let the leopard behind our eyes </span></div><div style="font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);" class="">guide us to the very edge of the sea?</span></div><span>_______________________________________________</span><br><span>Thespiritexpress mailing list</span><br><span>Thespiritexpress@lists.mcn.org</span><br><span>http://lists.mcn.org/mailman/listinfo/thespiritexpress</span><br></div></blockquote></body></html>