Magic
We humans have abilities that awe
That when unhemmed by ethics and by law
Can lead to great calamities indeed.
No magic can suffice, when few will heed
The voice of conscience and the pull of heart
As ears are deafened and we're pulled apart
By hatreds born of ignorance, instilled.
And so are prophesies, of hate, fulfilled.
******
So you and I and others have conversed
On how to end the wars with which we're cursed,
As more and more of science, art, and craft
Are used to wage what reason sees as daft—
What every heart and wakened conscience feels
Descends on people, trapped, and blindly steals
From these, its victims, all, including life,
And so maintains the never-ending strife
Descends on people, trapped, and blindly steals
From these, its victims, all, including life,
And so maintains the never-ending strife
That heaps, on generations, more of woe,
With senseless hatred turning friend to foe
As every act unjust and every blow
Begets its offspring, violent even more.
With senseless hatred turning friend to foe
As every act unjust and every blow
Begets its offspring, violent even more.
******
So each of us has asked, in silence and
In speech, if anyone can understand
The sense behind this senselessness and show
A way by which to stop—or even slow—
In speech, if anyone can understand
The sense behind this senselessness and show
A way by which to stop—or even slow—
The rush to our destruction: sober those
Whose hubris causes hearts and minds to close,
As blissful, willful ignorance parades
As truth—and blatant lies inform charades
Whose hubris causes hearts and minds to close,
As blissful, willful ignorance parades
As truth—and blatant lies inform charades
Performed by rogues, as legislators cheer
The murderers of children, feel no fear
Of judgment, further seal their hearts
And practice, daily, more deceiving arts.
The murderers of children, feel no fear
Of judgment, further seal their hearts
And practice, daily, more deceiving arts.
*********
If I could wave a "magic wand", I would—
And make those evils disappear, that should.
So bombs would all reverse, and bullets too—
And then we might be smiling, me and you—
And make those evils disappear, that should.
So bombs would all reverse, and bullets too—
And then we might be smiling, me and you—
As every missile sent and every shell
Would turn—and so return! It would be hell
For every bully, armed with war machines,
As "magic" gave the rest of us vaccines
Would turn—and so return! It would be hell
For every bully, armed with war machines,
As "magic" gave the rest of us vaccines
Against their bribes, their threats, and all the fear
And horror. So these wars would disappear—
Of mass destruction, misery, and death—
Replaced perhaps by even worse! Regret
And horror. So these wars would disappear—
Of mass destruction, misery, and death—
Replaced perhaps by even worse! Regret
Could then descend on well-intentioned me
As all my "magic" turned out, not to be
The thing I'd hoped for. Squeezing evil, I,
Would see its means to lengthen and defy
As all my "magic" turned out, not to be
The thing I'd hoped for. Squeezing evil, I,
Would see its means to lengthen and defy
My efforts to contain it. So elastic
This scourge of ours could be, that only drastic
Measures might suffice to bring to end
This evil that afflicts us all, my friend!
This scourge of ours could be, that only drastic
Measures might suffice to bring to end
This evil that afflicts us all, my friend!
*********
And what could truly be more drastic than
To end our species, twinned as woman-man?
To end our species, twinned as woman-man?
It might perhaps be time for diving deep
Within the wilds of psyche, through the sleep
Within the wilds of psyche, through the sleep
In which we often spend our waking days,
With steps, as usual, on accustomed ways
Of habit born of training, so we see
With steps, as usual, on accustomed ways
Of habit born of training, so we see
What seers saw, informing you and me,
In wordless ways that cannot be expressed
In verse or prose, of That which so impressed
The ones who saw that they awoke from sleep,
Enlightened—and connected with the Deep.
In verse or prose, of That which so impressed
The ones who saw that they awoke from sleep,
Enlightened—and connected with the Deep.
******
It’s only this, it seems, that could provide
The insight and connection that abide
And so inform the heart and mind to steer
Away from that which then is seen as clear.
The insight and connection that abide
And so inform the heart and mind to steer
Away from that which then is seen as clear.
Is it “good and evil”? Simply, “right and wrong”?
Or was and is this cleavage, all along,
Misguided—clouded by a lack of sight
Of those connections needing pause—for light?
Or was and is this cleavage, all along,
Misguided—clouded by a lack of sight
Of those connections needing pause—for light?
Our feelings, thoughts, and words and deeds, we see,
Are ripples on the surface of a sea
That can be whipped by winds to stormy waves.
And yet, beneath, there’s peace—a strength that knaves
Are ripples on the surface of a sea
That can be whipped by winds to stormy waves.
And yet, beneath, there’s peace—a strength that knaves
Cannot perturb. And some may call this “faith”
And others, “insight” or “connection”. Fate
Can put us each in peril and in stress,
But only grace can change a “no” to “yes”,
And others, “insight” or “connection”. Fate
Can put us each in peril and in stress,
But only grace can change a “no” to “yes”,
Delivered from the heart—and not by force.
So endless lies and wars may take their course
With cities laid to waste and no one spared.
The spirit lives—in those who saw—and cared.
So endless lies and wars may take their course
With cities laid to waste and no one spared.
The spirit lives—in those who saw—and cared.
And this, dear friend, is all I have to say
To end the many words I’ve said today.
There is indeed a magic: it’s within;
It gives us strength to see—and not to sin.
To end the many words I’ve said today.
There is indeed a magic: it’s within;
It gives us strength to see—and not to sin.
2025 March 7, Fri.
Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
