the Game of Life

The only way out is through
and the only way through is surrender
and surrender is death
to the flickering flame
while the embers are fanned
and the crucible incinerates
all we hold dear…

it’s not a terribly pretty picture
yet has teeth enough to alert you
to mind your step and open fully
to the intelligence influxing

do not dance on the strings of delusion
play-pretending an ordinary life —
you can only be wild and free
mysterious, magical and extraordinary
to lose yourself in THAT story!

to advance in the Game of Life
one must shoulder her burdens AND her gifts —
for they are the same…

between war and peace…

peace knows no desire
it is wanting that stirs the stars
wanting that makes matters meaningful
keeps us moving
keeps us topside
and away from the Void
of peace

peace
our most hallowed wanting
perversely beckons from beyond ALL wanting

so the question is
how badly do we really want it?
enough to surrender desire itself?
to cast aside wanting?
to step beyond the whole matter
of mattering and meaning?
to clip the traces of civilization
and nose into the mystery
alone?

i find my most wanton desire
and most strategic helplessness
here, on the cusp of this divide
where no gale can bend me
yet a whisper cracks the world
with peace so close i can feel her whiskers
but impossibly unreachable
and no way to get there from here
if (but only if)
i in the least bit want to

all i hear is laughter
slamming through the canyons
combing the bones of this high plateau
a death-rattle, wilding my hair
piercing my dreams
and reminding me
between war and peace
where i am