Hungry ghost,
insatiable spirit,
I would free you first
amongst many if I could,
release you from your struggle
for relief and escape,
but you are mired so deep
in your painful longings
I cannot reach you.
Hungry ghost,
never satiated,
always searching, wild eyed
for the soothing elixir
that will fill the emptiness inside.
Tasting this and drinking that,
inhaling green and golden brown
mists of pleasure and illusion
to alleviate your loneliness.
Hungry ghost,
stripping the beauty of what is
with beaks of desire
to find fulfillment in what isn’t.
Hunting through nature and time
for more than is given.
Feeding on dreams
while the nurture of life waits
untouched around you.
Hungry ghost,
I would free me of you
and you of me,
exorcize these cravings
for the imagined, the untrue,
with chants of love
and a final act of will
dissolving these yearnings,
these haunted addictions
into clear mountain water.
painting and poem by clinock.
“Hunting through nature and time/For more than is given.” This spoke to me.
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and to me, as it emerged, another truth dragged reluctant into the light…
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halogen whiplash
capillaries reacting
hot then ice
just below
the surface
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen
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chemical phantoms
have their way
in us
alchemy of blood
desire
transfiguration
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losing our appetite
~
heart burn consuming
the carnivore
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even though I don’t
eat meat
I consume my own flesh
and light
with appetites
I would choose
to lose
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Wow John …..there is so much I love about this post. The painting is a “classic” Clinock painting……so YOU! (powerful and simple, bold and playful….mysterious)
Your poem beckons many re-reads to grasp the images each word raises. Brilliant!
Finally adding Mehliana : Taming The Dragon was a real delight and surprise. As being a jazz drummer in a previous life I loved this performance.
So to sum up………a BIG thank YOU!
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and an even bigger thank you to you Robert for your kind and generous words…
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Reminds Shakespeare’s Richard III on ghost theme. Hamlet too.
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Absolutely Carl, and so many other writers. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James one of my favorites…
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The hungry ghost, the unreal, the addictions. Oh man. Undone with chants of love. Oh man. This is a tragedy. Except: chants of love can make it right. Thank you John.
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Yes, ‘chants of love can make it right’, maybe, possibly, with the opening of the throat of the heart. Thank you Steven…
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