Alexandra

Boss · Post by **Boss** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 6:36 am

I asked you this morning
What religion am I?

They told me at Sunday school
Of the 613 Mitzvoth
Of Abraham
And the Six Day War
Instructed me in Hebrew
I didn't complete my Bar Mitzvah

At my public school
Friends spoke of Jesus
Said he was king
I stayed for Christian religious instruction
Rather than join my brothers
In that side room with five or six Jews

On television I see death
Of a Muslim man
And kneeling five times a day
Always seemed so devoted
Disciplined to me

In the early nineties
I took you to a Buddhist temple
The floors were marble
Something was not right
I wondered of the Buddha's time
In Northern India
Of asking questions
Of the child he left behind

In Paris we visited Notre Dame
And the Holocaust Memorial
Saw Eiffel rise into the firmament
Like the Tower of Babel

And today you tell me
To go back 10,000 years
There was none of our religion
Yet they were our ancestors
As I am
You are of my flesh
I carried you a time
Religion is a tool
But not the essence
The essence resides in you Adam
In everyone
There is a place you can live
Unencumbered
You are yourself
An expression of life
You know love
And hate
But have grown so
You ask questions
I have asked all my life
And I can only tell you this
That there is a god
Not encaged by any system
Any rules
Or restriction
He is freedom
When you mourn your losses
He is there
When you laugh
He lives there too
There is no name for him
You find him in the variability
Of the breeze
A singing bird
You find him in death
Suffering
At a wedding

Mum stops
Another cuppa?
She goes into her kitchen

mat james · Post by **mat james** » Sat Jun 10, 2006 4:27 am

It's all there Boss;
and yet, paradoxically, something seems to be missing for you?
Like a goal post without the ball sailing through...

Boss · Post by **Boss** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:02 am

You are right Mat. I am full of pain and mess. So much is missing. You don't have to be Einstein to work it out - SHE is missing. But tell me, is your life so absolutely perfect? Are there no holes or hiccups? Is nothing missing for you? C'mon man, you're as human as I am. Full of all the pitfalls and vices, all the suffering and longing apparent in us all. What's missing in my life, and yours, and theirs is complete contentment. No one has ever or will ever attain this. This is the human condition.

As my Dad once wrote, "We all go stumbling towards perfection." We try, but inevitably, we fail. I'm afraid each of us walks feebly and delicately, courageously and defiantly; but finds peace only in love.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:28 am

Your Dad's comment seems rather Leonardlike, Boss.

You are right, in your paragraph telling Mat that he is right.

It sounds like you and your Mum had good conversations.

~ Lizzy

Boss · Post by **Boss** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:51 am

As is so often the case Elizabeth, when one thinks she knows it all, she just doesn't know a fucking thing.

Boss

.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 9:20 am

I'm not sure I know what you mean by that, Boss. Are you referring to me when you say "she" or to your Mum? Were what things sounded like in your poem not the way they really were? I know there was conflict in your family, but as I'm recalling, it was with your Dad.

Please explain what you've said here. Thanks.

[Edit ~ It seems the longest portion of what you wrote here is what your Mum said to you... and that seems to be true, at least to me.]

~ Elizabeth

peter danielsen · Post by **peter danielsen** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:03 pm

faith do not hold truth, but believe in the one who was truth, and died on a cross. This is the difference to any ideology. The latter claim to hold truth, and therefor kills for this truth to unfold.

I think your text displays distress and longing, that is a quality for a lyric in my view.
Peter

Dem · Post by **Dem** » Sun Jun 18, 2006 3:38 pm

"man is attracted by God as sharks by blood"
Odusseus Elytis
( "Maria Nephele")

mat james · Post by **mat james** » Mon Jun 19, 2006 3:55 pm

I'm not only after "contentment" Boss, though I certainly enjoy that frame of mind from time to time.
I enjoy a little "madness" as well, as Zorba would say, " A man needs a little madness, or else he never dares cut the rope, and be free"

Your father's one liners are exquisite and your mother is a gem. And
fruit doesn't fall far from the bough, as they say.
I bet your mum loves the Songs of Solomon!?

Boss · Post by **Boss** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:49 am

Raincheck

It's not high finance, it's called heart and soul
If it's rock and roll got to go, go, go, go,go
Gonna keep moving on up to the higher ground
Gonna keep moving on up, I got to stand my ground
Gonna keep moving on up, I wanna stick around
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Won't let the bastards grind me down

Call me raincheck in the afternoon
Call me raincheck, need a shot of rhythm and blues
Call me raincheck, on a golden autumn day
Call me raincheck, I won't fade away, I won't fade away
I don't fade away, I don't fade away, unless I want to

Can't take my love away, ah 'cause it's here to stay
If it fades away, come back another day
Gonna keep on moving on up to the higher ground
Gonna keep on moving on up, I wanna stick around
Gonna keep on moving on up, oh gonna stand my ground
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Won't let the bastards grind me down

My name is raincheck in the afternoon
My name is raincheck, need a shot of rhythm and blues
My name is raincheck, on a golden autumn day
My name is raincheck, and I don't fade away, I don't fade away
I don't fade away, I don't fade away, unless I want to

Move it up, move it up, move it up, move it up
Move it up, move it up, move it up, move it up
Move it up, move it up, move it up, move it up, move it up
Grind me down, grind me down, grind me down

My name is raincheck in the afternoon
My name is raincheck, need a shot of rhythm and blues
My name is raincheck, on a golden autumn day
My name is raincheck and I don't fade away, I don't fade away
I don't fade away, I don't fade away, unless I want to

Put on your dancing shoes, dance away your blues
When I'm feeling like this, I got nothing to lose
Wanna keep on moving on up to the higher ground
Wanna keep on moving on up and I'll stick around
Wanna keep on moving on up, got to stand my ground
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Won't let the bastards grind me down
Oh, won't let the bastards grind me down

My name is raincheck in the afternoon
My name is raincheck, need a shot of rhythm and blues
My name is raincheck, on a golden autumn day
My name is raincheck, and I don't fade away, I don't fade away
I don't fade away, I don't fade away, unless I choose
I choose, I choose, I choose

No, I don't fade away, I don't fade away, I don't fade away
Unless I choose, I choose, I choose
I choose, I choose, I choose
I choose, I choose, I choose
I choose, I choose, I choose
I choose, I choose, I choose
No I won't fade away, I won't fade away, I don't fade away
Unless I want to

Van Morrison, 1995

Lizzy, I am sorry

Adam

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Tue Jun 20, 2006 5:00 am

Hi Adam ~

I'm still confused by what happened there, but that's okay. I accept your apology. It's hard to know the complexities of others' personal histories or all the meanings of their poetry.

At least it clarifies that you did mean me

.

~ Lizzy