Being Here Now
by Odin odin@aflx.com — Read all 3,869 poems by Odin odin@aflx.com
With the announcement that Ram Dass has died comes the need to honor his impact, and especially his teaching in the book, “Be Here Now”
Monday, December 23, 2019
Being Here Now
How regal your stature has been
Your stalwart frame
Ever remaining at the ready
Patiently waiting to live out
Your inner tether
Your heart’s offering
To a romantic’s touch
You’ve served me well
Been carried to cabin
Backpacked to basecamp
Returned with me
To nestle beside my hand
Pen
Paper
Our home
Yes
You’ve succumbed to gravity
Like this aging body of mine
Both aware time melts away
Having given space to breathe
For being my breath of luminance
For embracing the flame
For sacrifice
For selfless giving
Even as your final hours approached
For that
I thank you
Without your lighthouse guidance
My journey’s dreams
Might have been lost to murky despair
How giving you’ve been
Allowing your body to dwindle
By flame’s consuming needs
And now…
The end has given rise to your new beginning
Your warm tears pooling
Their final remembrance
As your room became dim
So comforting to know
The offspring of your light
Will remain fixed
Ink upon paper
Word upon word
Pain upon pain
Joy upon joy
You will always
Be here now
My visit to the Hare Krishna enclave, New Vrindaban, in West Virginia in 1974 convinced me that they were nothing more than a mind numbing chanting cult. Not very spiritually enlightening in all.
Ron