<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">The Last Harvest</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">My lifelong love is slowly dying.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">On my early morning walk I come to a field of daisies</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">and I pick the brightest,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">plucking one petal at a timeless time </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">to mark our way to the finish.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">“<font face="Times New Roman, serif">What is this life about?” I ask the daisy</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Petals aflare as so many bodies of experience,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">full of faces, events, places</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">full of people remembered </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">with the clarity of an uncompromising now,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">experience-bodies with my name, my many names,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">consciousness traveling with the pulse of the moment </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">through roles assigned by parents, teachers, friends, strangers,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">a flow of memories projected in the aperture </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">through which the eternal observes the manifested.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Half way through I encounter an obstruction,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">a commitment I made early on </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">to make something of myself, be someone I could never be.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I tried very hard but I was stuck and soon </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I did not try at all. </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I just went against the flow.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Against the flow </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">bond</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ed </font>with those bold Parisians </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">that fame snatched in their early life.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">Sagan, Seberg, Bardot, Godard, Truffaut, </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">authors, actors, film makers who captured the spirit of the time</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">and released it on a consenting crowd</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">while riding its energy to burst out of a corseted society. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">The existential track had opened my way </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">to this new wave <font face="Times New Roman, serif">of taboo breakers </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">and I responded to t</font>he lawless call</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">following for a while the murmur of that crowd,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">doing as they did, trying to be as they were. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">B</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ut </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">when I </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">noticed a </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">new </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">window </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">of </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">opportun</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ity</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I jumped.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">The spirit of the time landed me in the New World</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">among those singing in a newfound tongue, </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">adventurers who drank the magic potion </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">carr</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ying</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">them </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">to other dimentio</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">n</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">s</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">When </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I came to the </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">last </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">few </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">petals</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font style="font-size: 12pt;"></font></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">the </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">fragrance of each decade was </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">disclosed</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">so pure it could be received</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">and given away in the same instant.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">One more petal <font face="Times New Roman, serif">as </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I listened to </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">the language of </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">my </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">heart</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">bringing </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">back to myself the power I had given other</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">s,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">and as the reminiscences faded away</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I questioned the daisy in my hand:</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">“what do I truly want at the crepuscule of my life</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">when my lover is dying?”</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">It’s all there, inside, all there with such clarity,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">the world, the friends, the events, the settings,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">a full 3D color movie with all flavor, all movements of soul.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don’t you see? </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Y</font>ou have been handed the key that opens the passage </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">to every body of experience until the last. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Don’t you see? </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">The being in all beings is the same being,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">so hear all the voices </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">without the judgment of your thinking mind,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">d</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">on’t shrin</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">k</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> in fear </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">but expand in love</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>a</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">s you j</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ump into old ag</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">e.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">It’s the last harvest, </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">surveying </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">experiences </font>while divesting your self of experiences</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">in </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">a</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif"> </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">l</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">a</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ndscape </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">that is </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">the mind of go</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">d.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Your </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">l</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ong</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">i</font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">ng </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">for the past </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">is love itself </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">filtering through the veil and glowing</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">like a memory of eternity you long to return to.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Remember, the self of every self is god infinite,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">so jump, </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">die before you die,</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;">die with your loved one. </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>*****</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I pluck the </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">very </font><font face="Times New Roman, serif">last petal, </font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I thank the naked daisy,</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">I lay it down, I turn around:</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif">Spring has arrived.</font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><blockquote style="margin-right: 0.39in; margin-left: 0.39in; background: none; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal;"><font face="Helvetica"><font style="font-size: 18pt;"><br></font></font><br><br></blockquote><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 16px; background: none;"><br></p><blockquote style="margin-right: 0.39in; margin-left: 0.39in; background: none; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-position: normal;"><font face="Helvetica"><font style="font-size: 18pt;"><br></font></font><br><br></blockquote></body></html>