Knight, you came to this crossing before
bold and green, fired up for the quest,
and did not know that this was always the place:
this stony beach, the crabbers and fishing nets,
the wind-blown houses across the dark waters.
Now you have ridden your horse to the ground
your armor is rusted, your sword crosted with blood,
your hair bleached to bone. You can see now
that no adversary bested you except yourself;
you refused no battle, fled from no fight.
But in your war for the world you forgot
the world-behind-the-world you were fighting for.
You don't like what you see in the mirror of the water.
bold and green, fired up for the quest,
and did not know that this was always the place:
this stony beach, the crabbers and fishing nets,
the wind-blown houses across the dark waters.
Now you have ridden your horse to the ground
your armor is rusted, your sword crosted with blood,
your hair bleached to bone. You can see now
that no adversary bested you except yourself;
you refused no battle, fled from no fight.
But in your war for the world you forgot
the world-behind-the-world you were fighting for.
You don't like what you see in the mirror of the water.
Plate by plate, iron by iron, chain by chain,
you cast off your armor. This is taking off your skin.
You are so raw a teasing zephyr tears your flesh.
You cling to your sword, but the waves rebuff you.
To make this crossing, you must lay down your arms.
In unsteady hands, you raise the great iron
and bury your pride and your rage in forgiving earth.
you cast off your armor. This is taking off your skin.
You are so raw a teasing zephyr tears your flesh.
You cling to your sword, but the waves rebuff you.
To make this crossing, you must lay down your arms.
In unsteady hands, you raise the great iron
and bury your pride and your rage in forgiving earth.
Salt eats your flesh. the swell buffets you,
tosses you, hurls you down into stinging sand.
When you come up gasping, black birds batter you
and you know that furies you aroused have found you.
Is it death you have come to meet at this water gate?
You swirl into blackness. When the swirling stops
you are flat on the far shore, looking up at her lovely face.
"I called you in dreams," she reminds you
with only the edge of reproach. "But year after year
you would not listen. And still, you are here."
tosses you, hurls you down into stinging sand.
When you come up gasping, black birds batter you
and you know that furies you aroused have found you.
Is it death you have come to meet at this water gate?
You swirl into blackness. When the swirling stops
you are flat on the far shore, looking up at her lovely face.
"I called you in dreams," she reminds you
with only the edge of reproach. "But year after year
you would not listen. And still, you are here."
In a cathedral room, open to the heavens,
you are washed with light. You remember the quest.
Can the Grail be here? You range through the house
seeking, only to return to the great sky-lit space.
She says, "Be still, and open. Stand like a tree,
open like a flower, like a chalice, at your crown."
You remember the crown you once wore
and you let that go, and open. "Drink the light."
You drink deep, and something opens deeper in you
in the cavity of the heart, a cup is filing with light.
Light streams from the heart, pure waterfall, and you know
you have found the Grail, in the one place it can be found.
you are washed with light. You remember the quest.
Can the Grail be here? You range through the house
seeking, only to return to the great sky-lit space.
She says, "Be still, and open. Stand like a tree,
open like a flower, like a chalice, at your crown."
You remember the crown you once wore
and you let that go, and open. "Drink the light."
You drink deep, and something opens deeper in you
in the cavity of the heart, a cup is filing with light.
Light streams from the heart, pure waterfall, and you know
you have found the Grail, in the one place it can be found.
- Mosswood Hollow, July 15, 2011
Graphic: Sangreal by Arthur Rackham (1917)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI too like Nina feel the sycronicity of the "lay down your arms and open your heart" theme. I was recently blessed with the opportunity to do just that and it happened through dance. I felt it rising up within me as I moved, this long lost, deep hidden, secret and vulnerable part of myself. And then like magic, at just the right moment, the perfect welcoming space opened up to me to receive this part of myself. Taking off armor, well rusted as you say, is quite new to me. It's all a little bit sacrey, but what a relief to be true!
ReplyDelete. I think this story is not "just a myth." It is a story that carries a meaningful lesson. Harmony, and joy come from peace, not from war. What did the knight get from all of his battles? It is a lesson that our civilization and governments should learn.
ReplyDelete. I like the poetic way you expressed the story, too. It has beauty and impact. Thank you for posting it that way.
Ah, what can I say? What you have written is true. The heart knows it is so.
ReplyDeleteWritten after delving into the Chariot card....
ReplyDeleteThe Chariot of Creation,
is fueled by a Cauldron
a Grail whose Guardian
steers the whirling vortices of bubbling energy.
Drink and flood your mind with visions
of Cherubim prisms
the Eagle, the Lion, the Bull, and the Man
tethering the Mercurial Ba
Feathers on the wings of the rising Ka
soar upwards to the height of heavens
and fill the Grail anknew...
Nina - "Follow the heart line" - an excellent precept for any day.
ReplyDeleteIrene - I like the image of dancing away the rusted armor.
ReplyDeleteDon & Carol - Thank you very much.
ReplyDelete