ABOUT

CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

ARCHIVE

LAGNIAPPE

MAST

SUBMISSIONS

 
THE NINE-FOLD PATH
by Michael Rothenberg

1.

Making whistles out of blades of grass
   You're everywhere now

           Bay ripples, cloud ships, night fevers
                                       Everywhere I go

Swimming at bottom of summer pools
       In sleep on shaded lounge chair
                              Calling gurus to my dreams

                           Helping me breathe
                               Articulate supplication
                         Phrase invocation

              Splash of waves beneath piers

                An ideal day for you
           Real day for you
          Everywhere dizzying, voracious grasshopper
                    Pelicans, chameleons, blue jay
                                                                            Heat!

As if I've never been here before
           Old haunts, old retreats, rediscovered in green

                                   You're everywhere

                                                                                  June 29, 2001

2.

             Sky blazing azure dance of low shape-shifting clouds

                         "Nothing should stand in the way of living
                              fully in each moment."

                  I see the story of lovemaking

                                           evolving formations

                                  Guilty confusion of happily-ever-after
                                     revealed. Shame of pleasure, tribal anxiety,
                                               existential shock of belonging

     We martyr ourselves,

         abandon a palace, a million bucks
   because we don't like our bodies
                    though we swear we do

              Addicted to poverty white convertible
          races west on Tamiami Trail
              to visit Alligator King

Hindus, Buddhists, Jews

                                   meditate on wild animal nature
                 Juvenile billfish confronted with
                   confined tank die just days after being
                caught. We are those marlin and swordfish

                                 but also children longing
     for a conference with god,
        with amulet and kaleidoscope of time
                            for hopeless idealism

                                       Hopeful in morass
                     of jerking ganglia
      Killing fields of marketplace,
 shops of freedom butchers
     Congress of fundamentalist architects

                           who prohibit gluttony
                               of lovers!

I propose a rainbow for lovers! Festival for lovers!

                                                  For us!

       Only a monk would take the advice:
          "Roam in the world as a lion of self-control; don't
           let the frogs of sense weakness kick you around"

          So get enough sleep, dress for the weather, and only
 think about me

                                                                                      June 30, 2001

3.

                                          Black bay, city lights, invisible stars
                      Over and over for decades coming to this place
                 I've only seen this far

                                                Body of death, longing
                               Stretched over my body speaking through me

                    Marble balcony, limitless fall, cemetery waltz

                               What I knew of rapture was disease
                             Blistered vows, blight among coconut
                                        Palms of Paradise

                                Hyacinth, walking catfish, pepper tree

                  Man with too many expectations of woman
                      expecting to find myself in the mix
                            I turn off alarm, walk out between glass
                       doors to see what else I might be missing
                  from wanting too much of the wrong thing

                            Ah, balmy breeze!

                                     Insatiable cicada, frosty moon, sheet lightning

                  Laughter from house 9 stories below
                       Guitars & percussion of 100,000 trembling fig leaves
                  Hair on arms & face lathered in
                                                                        kisses of oceanic sigh

                                 Everyone singing to you and me
                      The beautiful lovers who will never die!
                         A song about birth of angels
                           Song that will never require a shaman's tricks

                            Shiny saxophones, congas, harmonies adrift

                                 I am always standing with you
                  Beyond any misunderstandings of history or myth
          Black bay, city lights, invisible stars

                                                                                             June 30, 2001

4.

                               You are my guru, my yogini
                        Walk with me in twilight's soothing shadow
                        Make me a box of books: The Bïjak of Kabir
                                             Autobiography Of A Yogi, The Ochre Robe

                                                                         Teach me:
                                            Breath in, expand. Exhale, contract

                             Brush out your hair in waves
                               Burn incense
                                   Hold me near

                                             But you're not here!

                                          A man and woman float
                                   in placid pool of orange & blue lilies
                              awash in presence of one another's
                                 vibration while you're on a beach somewhere
                                        far away in France frolicking. It's not fair!

                                                So I say a prayer of Divine Love
                                               so longing will go away

              You couldn't leave me for a better disciple

                                                 Practicing detachment!
                      When pink petals wag noisy tongues
         Interrupt my meditation,

                                              "She's not there!" they say
                        "See that man half-naked in hooded chair
                    writing poetry to steer his soul from scorching
                 Celestial rays? Reading doves redundant melody?
              He thinks he's met his match but where's his reflection?"

                   I tell myself it's illusion!
               Flowers can't talk. Sit up straight. We die alone
                                 Remember one of the most cultivated lessons--

                                                                          Wild grass grows

                                                                                             July 1, 2001

5.

                               Belonging to the Universe, put your order in!

                                         Outside Miccosukkee Indian Reservation
                                   getting darshan of Little Richard
                                Birds wake early golden eastern light
                                      Lemon-lime pine, palm prana

                                  Sadhus sail samadhi in bone ships through
                                          silently lapping silver tongues of elegantly
                                      untranslatable Sanskrit ragas. Thread of
                                 baybrimming tapestry, shimmering bamboo

                                                             shoots, spinal column grove.

                                           Path of Infinite

                                                              Hot coffee, sesame seed bagel

                              Greetings my beloved!

                                                 Brushing teeth

                                                       "Seeds of past karma cannot germinate
                                             if they are roasted in the fires of divine wisdom."

                                                 One is wise to take good advice where
                                      one can find it. Sleepy Monday driving to work

                                               "Hundreds vie to live out dreams on
                                                               reality show"

                         Maya of the senses!

                                          So much to invent
                                          So little time to put it to practical use
                                                                              Let's go see America!

                                      Pranayama

                                   She is sacred. Touch her feet.

                                       Stars in my eyes
                                            Psychedelic Constellations!

                                                             Shall I take jam or honey? Sweet
                                                        butter. Supreme Strawberry!

                                                 At Jockey Club ashram reading
                                        morning edition of Self-Realization Magazine

                                             My muse worried in hurry mowing
                                          lawns, traveling, cooking, sweeping
                                                 the porch out from under her feet

                                                          What do I have to stand on?

                                                Cares of the world swept out
                                                                                 Dharma

                                   The fortune teller told her,
                                          "Go buy a ring. Your man will come to you
                                                                                                              soon"

                                                 Here I am! Here in the West!
                                                 Why are you heading east?

                                          Seductive form of
                                      feminine revealed at every turn
                                         but these other devadasis mean
                                                 nothing to me

                                Dear Universe
                                                I offer bhakti. Please
                             put my order in   Send me your Pilgrim Daughter

                                                                                                  July 2, 2001

6.

          Yesterday I missed you, tomorrow I will not

                                 Like Isle of Skye or Yosemite Falls
                         you're beautiful but I've no desire to drag you
                      around like a ball & chain

                                Desire is curse
                       Missing you is worse than the cure
                     The cure is Hollywood Beach Boardwalk

                    4th of July
                   Maidens rollerblading wearing almost
                          nothing but eyes

                                                  Steamed clams, kegs of beer
                                 Licking dripping ice cream. Families
                         scream in surf

                                                      The Church of The Sun King!

                      Arbors of lavender, yellow vines, grape leaves
               Greek wine. The Beatles sing, "Hello, Goodbye!"

                    Hello, goodbye pelicans, palms, coral
                      shards. Power mowers, convertible
                         cars. Speedboats, yachts, grasshoppers,
                                     freckles, blue eyes

                                   and lonesome fools
                   like me who cry for anchor in bottomless sea-world
                                  of this know-nothing planet

                        Did I say a cure?
                                   Or one desire replaced by another?
                                         Transience is beauty

                                    I've been under my own spell. I'm not going
                     to look for anyone anymore. Barnacles, moss, hair
                                                                                       and skin.

                 Nothing out, nothing in!
                        Though I want to recall everywhere I've ever
                        been

                               with you, casual memory would be
                                                                          a vast improvement!

                                                                                                   July 3, 2001

7.

       There should be no altar in the bedroom
       You can't really do it if the gods are watching
       You'd have to keep telling me I'm your Krishna

                              "You are Krishna!" You said long distance
                            I called from astral plane
                 We spoke about lingerie, fireworks & lightning

                 Prayer beads draped over Kali
                                 Holy Men look down upon our intimate festivities
                                            Getting tantric! Orgasm without ejaculation
                                                   So what's the point?

       Chrysanthemum & fountains burst on high

                  Your head on my chest
                  My head on your breast
                  Your hands on my head

                           "What are you thinking about?"
                                        Did you come?
                       "You should know if you were paying attention"
                                  Why did the goddess bite her tongue?
                       "Why do you worry about these things?"

                                       One of the parents is blue
                                              and the baby is an elephant

                 I'm willing to accept there's one God
                 Why bring in a whole entourage?
                 Are you sure you're not Catholic? Sure you're not a nun?

                                            And one of them has weird eyes
                                            The other is his mistress. And she's married!

                                            That one with the flute plays around

                 Lakshmi, Durga, Radha
                 Do you think they'll hear us moan?
                 Shag me Shakti!
                 Smoke fills the room

                               Red silk over lampshade we watch each other
                      groove. Wait, what's wrong with this picture? I think
                          I saw his third-eye      move

                                      "What difference does it make-- it's a sacred act!
                                        By their grace we're here together"
                                                  Is that a fact?
                                                  I think it would be more
                                                      fun to do it behind their backs

                                                                                  Turn out the light!

                                                                                                  July 3, 2001

8.

I read the stars this morning
Sagittarius, of your inner and outer constellations:

                 "Keep options open. Scenario features change of itinerary. Mild
                 flirtation could become serious; be careful, don't get in too deep"

                               There's danger in fundamentalist reading of prophecy
                         It feeds into fear. We can change things. None
                               of it written in stone. I rewrite the story
                                  to suit my own and say you're
                                         coming home soon

                                                             Australian spotted jellyfish
                                Some as big as basketballs easy to spot
                     from the air enter Florida's largest Atlantic coastal lagoon

                   "Time's rushing by but when it comes to missing
                            you it's going so slow!"

My horrorscope says:

                 "Aquarius, like the other Air signs, you're wonderfully free and open
                 beneath the Sagittarius Moon. You don't care what the outcome is
                 as long as you gave the cause your all. The connections of a lifetime are
                 forged today"

                I put on astrological bangle go toe to toe with spiritual
                                amnesia, fetters of environmental law

Sri Yukteshwar says:

                  "The wise man defeats his planets-which is to say, his past-
                  by transferring his allegiance from the creation to the Creator.
                  The more he realizes his unity with Spirit, the less he can be
                  dominated by matter."

                      And

                                      Jellyfish vanish into non-environmental
                                              cloud. Lovers who once haunted us masquerade in
                                                bodies of the somebodys we meet today
                                                           and in the future won't

                                                            pollute
                                                            our rosy karmic
                                                                                    skies

                                         We live and die by our
                                    enlightened consciousness or find
                                       other signs to live our lives by

                                                                                  July 4, 2001 a.m.

9.

        Silhouette of palms on moonlight rippling bay.