protean muse
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Behind Dark Winter Lives
Behind dark winter lives
Stairs go down
More go up
Blocks of ice
Solid like clear rock
Urban jungle trench
Exits & back doors
Felines prowl ahead
But never close
Ghoulish light through an opaque
window-pane
Pale fluorescence illuminates
“there is no God”
on three stories.
The empty lot about to be re-built
restores faith.
There are no stars.
I see no one.
I hear rubber whirring over pavement
Everywhere.
I don’t even see the young man who doesn’t
see me.
Hearing only his own tune.
Walking only
Exactly where he is going.
There was so much hope on this
concrete continent.
New lives.
And here I walk
craving only
the warmth
of something old.
1. 16. 13
Sometimes the World is Too Loud
Sometimes the world is too loud.
In these phases of walking around
as somebody,
the wisdom of the tortoise envelops me.
There is plenty of room
to wiggle
and laugh to myself.
And know with complete comfort
that others are here too.
I can fall safely.
I can feel the surrounding atmoshpere.
I can mourn.
I can sleep wide-awake.
And dream inside your shell
While still moving my limbs
securely
within mine.
March 2009, on a layover at DIA.
In these phases of walking around
as somebody,
the wisdom of the tortoise envelops me.
There is plenty of room
to wiggle
and laugh to myself.
And know with complete comfort
that others are here too.
I can fall safely.
I can feel the surrounding atmoshpere.
I can mourn.
I can sleep wide-awake.
And dream inside your shell
While still moving my limbs
securely
within mine.
March 2009, on a layover at DIA.
Labels: andy acker, poetry, tortoise
Nyctophobia
"What are fears but voices airy?
Whispering harm where harm is not.
-Wordsworth "Fear of the dark is not fear of the absence of light, but fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by the darkness." -William LyonsWhispering harm where harm is not.
---- FDR"Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark." -Francis Bacon
"Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to find you." - David Whyte
Thursday, January 22, 2009
El Labyrinto Del Fauno (Pans Labyrinth) Movie Review
Living in the mountians for the month with only a few DVD's + a case of the winter flu = a re-watch of Guillermo Del Torro's "Pan's Labyrinth." I am reminded why this film impressed me so much:I think it's a brilliant depiction of how we can so easily lose our connection to magic and Earth-wisdom, during our passage from one era to the next, and likewise from childhood to adulthood. We see this through the eyes of Ofelia, the main character. Not yet closed to the wonders of the natural world, she sees portals and creatures the grown-ups have long-forgotten, or stopped looking for. As a "dark fantasy" that taps the mythical and magical realms, this isn't a story about fantastical magic, but our connection to ordinary magic: what we contact when our minds are fresh, vivid, present. As the post-industrial age and 20th century began to over-run the wonder & awe of past eras & civilizations with a blind, alienating rationality and militant nationalism, the artifacts of these past worlds still lingered. These trademarks and dangers of passing into the modern age all culminated in WWII and -in the case of Pan's Labyrinth- Franco's Spain.
The cinematography, shooting, & visual effects serve the story with a compulsory appeal to leave our mundane consciousness behind. While watching, I find myself not even considering the acting, which usually indicates its brilliance. Up here in the Santa Cruz mountains this winter, I now find myself feeling the moss growing over the trees, the limbs of my curiosity reaching into the shadows of the forest, and wondering about the people who have lived on these ridges or in these valleys before me. When imagination is present, these are vivid parts of the moments and places that I find.
Labels: arts, creativity, film
Friday, November 21, 2008
when I held a foreign land
sometimes I am in a foreign land.
the water lapping the shore
touches lips the same
it explores my system
like strangers with their eyes.
cliff faces fondle me when I perch
on jagged smooth sentiments
our exposure changing us both,
leaving one another
just as we were found.
there is a whole life in your face
just as there were traces of ancient breaths
during a coughing fit last year
when friends I hadn't met were far from
wearing a shroud of green moss
as I came to them with a chisel,
bleeding,
forgetting what I held in my hands.
the water lapping the shore
touches lips the same
it explores my system
like strangers with their eyes.
cliff faces fondle me when I perch
on jagged smooth sentiments
our exposure changing us both,
leaving one another
just as we were found.
there is a whole life in your face
just as there were traces of ancient breaths
during a coughing fit last year
when friends I hadn't met were far from
wearing a shroud of green moss
as I came to them with a chisel,
bleeding,
forgetting what I held in my hands.
Monday, November 10, 2008
21st Century Tang (Space Medicine China-Style)
This is exactly the kind of development needed in the field of space medicine: holistic remedies that strengthen human capacity to adapt to the rigors and stresses of space travel.
According to a recent article, China is already applying the wisdom of their ancient medicine to space flight. Chinese herbal formulas are being administered to increase recovery and stamina in their astronauts. The formula "Taikong Yangxin (space heart-nourishing) Capsule" is made of 10 different herbs. It apparently treats motion sickness and is proven to "improve cardiovascular conditions." And, in true TCM spirit, these fo
rmulas are apparently being tailored for each astronaut, since individuals have unique patterns or disharmonies of qi that a formula is adjusted for (whether modified in amounts according to the person's weight of each herb or their replacement based on their effectiveness). The "Space-Heart Nourishing" formula reportedly "helps taikonauts recover from stress and fatigue," as well as improve sleep and support recovery between missions. As a Chinese doctor and herbalist in training, I have no doubt of these herbs' capacity. I literally can't wait to get my hands on some. Remeber the orange drink Tang? I guess this a kind of 21st century, ancient Chinese wisdom's answer to our beloved surgary orange drink.Wait...Tang sounds Chinese already...did it really come out of NASA? Urban legend says yes, but it looks like it was invented before being used on the 1965 Gemini missions.
Li Yongzhi, director of the medical department at the China Astronaut Research and Training Center, said: "The medicine will boost their physical conditions and improve their adaptability in an extreme environment." Even if this is the Chinese's answer to Tang, it probably doesn't have a refreshing orangey zip...
I hope NASA is taking notes!
[I lost the link to the original article, but I'll add it as soon as I find it again]
|Cross-posted on my Space Medicine blog|
Labels: astronomy, chinese medicine, herbology, space medicine, space travel
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Up Late with a Lion
I cannot avoid moving for my fear of being eaten
Not anymore
Nor should any of us
So I move
And I may eat my words
Or my words, be eaten
Not anymore
Nor should any of us
So I move
And I may eat my words
Or my words, be eaten
Labels: poetry
