Dichotomy

1972 © Shelia S. Massey


I.
 
so high the fences stand
to mark how far the pain extends
so far, far into the night
the stars fly
 
only darkness descends
man-made
with the one handedness
of his blindness
 
illusions of moon shiver
thru waters of silence
unremembered light abides
in restful everyness
and even the fences of forgetfulness
stand made of light
 
even when we do not see
the stars fly
 
II.
 
babbling minds never cease
their aimless wanderings
thru endless pretensions
of misapprehension
quite forcibly oblivious
to otherwise obvious understanding
 
minds, that never lie quiet,
as a river stone,
so still
the center of waves emanating
yet itself unmoving vibration
 
never see the cosmic voicing
speak crystals of light
and do not know
darkness as illusion
and so exist blind to the face of day
 
while some see joyful primal understanding
everywhere found embracing
the cosmic voicing
...seen even in the darkest hour before dawn