Surrealism


  "Lovers don't finally meet somewhere;
  they are in each other all along."
  --Rumi

 I have done what lovers do in Dali paintings:
Climbed your twining limbs to taste the fruits you offer
Swung from your fingers like a star from Orion’s belt
Trimmed my timeworn sails to the wind of your breath.
These things we do in dreams, these things we never thought
Were possible: I have done them. 

I have felt you buried in the roots of me
Felt you rising in my belly like slow bees
Found you in the tall grass of early morning
When you turned your face to me, sleepy-eyed
As a lion on the make: I know you, stranger.
We were in each other long before we met.

Was it you I hunted in primal forests where nightmares ruled?
Was I the rudder that tilled your Viking ship?
We chased each other down the slopes of eternity and tumbled
Into forgetfulness: the fumbled innocence of childhood
The brilliant distractions that baffled and molded us
All through this wild, aching, amnesiac life;

And now we are awake.  These things we never thought
Were possible: we have done them.
I trim my timeless sails to the wind of your breath
I swing from your fingers, a star from Orion’s belt
I climb the lovely limbs of your body
Disappearing, like Dali’s beloved, in the boundless sky behind your eyes.


KB ©2008

Comments

  1. Written several years ago during a period of awakening to Buddhist thought and meditation. I was preparing for a trip to India (land of reincarnation, death, rebirth and recycling of souls), and really grooving on the idea that the human soul--as opposed to body, mind, personality etc.--is a part of us that goes on. We come from somewhere before we enter this life, and we are on our way back there. In the meantime, we pick up all these experiences, from sublime to horrible and everything in between; and we encounter other humans and fall in love and feel repelled and everything in between. We learn lessons. We grow. This particular poem is about falling in love; one of the most sublime human experiences. Obviously I'd been spending a lot of time poring over surrealist paintings. God knows why. But it sure shows up here.

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  2. PS--if you're interested in Dali, click on the ship at right; it will take you to some of his paintings. Fascinating man. A few quotes:

    "Mistakes are almost always of a sacred nature. Never try to correct them. On the contrary: rationalize them, understand them thoroughly. After that, it will be possible for you to sublimate them."

    and,
    "I don't do drugs. I am drugs." (my favorite)

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