America 2197 You are not what you once were. Nothing is. Life changes. Life evolves. Life encompasses. Or life dies. Where once you lounged, cloaked in alabaster privilege; steel ribbons stretching edge to edge, binding east to west; sleepless fires in your massive coal forges spewing forth your iron might; you now sing the tight electric harmony. Photons eclipse electrons. Cloud surmounts earth. Lines, long ago fallen before the ubiquitous Net, have been carried away like pruned canes in a vineyard now out of season. Your roots have lengthened and mingled, drawing life from the ends of the spherical Earth. You scan the far horizon with Viking eyes; fiercely blue, fearing nothing. The cold wind strews your flaming Scottish hair and you smile the knowing smile of one certain to win all. On the night air, your sweet Arabian lips call my name with cool aplomb and draw me close; murmuring tales of the Rub’al-Khali. Of Dubai, before the oil came to your new home. The sultry breeze whispers against your smooth skin: ebony silk, in the quiet morning of this new day. The cruel uphill fight to attain, attain, attain; now so old as to be legend. A curio on a bracelet of charms. Your voice dances in my ears, my sweet Parvati, and whets all of my senses. The gods of ancient Dwarka speak through your fingers, and weave the future. The ancient navigators of Micronesia. now plot courses past the stars with ease. The sea was, after all, just practice. The tango of the Argentine speaks in your blood, and cries out for the inevitable conquest. Your breath quickens at the scent of opportunity, for you are one, not without the fiercest of passions. The view from the peaks of Aconcagua and Chimborazo, king and queen of the Andes, has sharpened the acuity of vision that you bring to your new home, to the point that the hawk - not the eagle - is jealous. For you too now share the aerie. You are as unstoppable as the unkillable persistence of your beautiful Russian forebears As transcendently enduring in the face of adversity as the ancient monks of the high Tibetan plateau. Of the pilgrim looking toward Mount Kailash, from Idaho. You are so much more than you were. And so much less than you will be. My love. My America. --Graves 11/16/12 Sequential Glossary: 1. Rub’al-Khali: The Rub al Khali or Empty Quarter is the largest sand desert in the world, encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. It includes most of Saudi Arabia and areas of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The desert covers some 250,000 square miles. 2. Parvati: Parvati, also known as Gauri, is a Hindu goddess, nominally the second consort of Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and rejuvenation. Generally considered a benevolent goddess, she also has wrathful incarnations such as Durga and Kali. She is the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess, with all other goddesses being her incarnations or manifestations. 3. Dwarka Dwarka is a city and a municipality of Jamnagar district in the Gujarat state in India. Also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature, Dwarka is one of the seven most ancient cities in the country. The legendary city of Dwarka was the dwelling place of Lord Krishna. 4. Aconcagua Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas (22,837 feet). It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. It is one of the Seven Summits. 5. Chimborazo Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador (20,564 ft). While Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earths surface from the Earths center. 6. Mount Kailash is a peak in the Transhimalaya range in Tibet. It is considered a sacred place in four religions: Bön, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism. Tibetan Buddhists call it “Kangri Rinpoche” meaning “Precious Snow Mountain”. Bon texts give it many names: “Waters Flower”, “Mountain of Sea Water”, “Nine Stacked Swastika Mountain”. For Hindus, it is the home of the mountain god Shiva and a symbol of his power symbol om; for Jains it is where their first leader was enlightened; for Buddhists, it is the navel of the universe; and for adherents of Bon, it is the abode of the sky goddess Sipaimen. If you see this piece on Facebook, and if you like it, please do me the favor of hitting the “share” button so that others may enjoy it, too. Thanks! More of Michael Graves’ poetry is at the following link: https://facebook/pages/Michael-Graves-Poet/59117439868 Copyright (c) 2012 by Michael Graves, All Rights Reserved, except the right to forward and to share with friends - with credit -- which is held to be a good idea and is thus encouraged. The photograph is copyrighted by its owner. I have no idea who this is, and no infringement is intended. NOTE: I am currently working on a project to get all of the images that I have used with poetry postings properly purchased and licensed. This project will take a while for me to complete and will be costly, but I am determined to get this thing set up so that it is done right. In the meantime, so that postings are not halted while I am diligently pursuing the owners of the images that I have found scattered across the internet; I will continue to post existing pieces with images as they have been posted to this point, crediting the owners when I know them and continuing to search for them when I do not. I make no money off of these postings but post for the love of the poetic muse and so that I may communicate with you in this form. I have always appreciated your support and your continuing encouragement. You have both my appreciation, and my heartfelt thanks for this. :-)
Posted on: Sat, 05 Jul 2014 01:31:24 +0000
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