Swirling Down

My parents are safe, by agreement acclimating to their new lives with NO contact from any children for two weeks. I can return home 3000 miles away -- and the Abbey. One sister said, "You tell stories and the problems drift away -- I looked through the exchanges and you never told us what to do, yet everything, I think, is exactly as you would have chosen. -- send me a poem." So I shared these Fitzgeralds with them ... and you The Fitzgerald Carousel

There are three ponies we may ride
when we choose the carousel --
or so we are taught to believe,
and thereby trust,
and cannot perceive
else but these as limits
of the universe --

but I'll play the game a bit
and explore the carousel
before the music
stops;
or the conductor asks
for a ticket.

…………………………………………………………………….

Our three steeds are androgynous
in sculpted form and cultural demand;
but we know differently --
that one is a stallion,
one a mare,
and the other not
of creation.

Their names were cast by ancients,
which we accept as
Spirit, Soul and Mind …
and may choose which steed is which --
which journey we may fly.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

If one were to look from without,
or perhaps from deep within;
the frozen legs in cycled prance
form a galloping race in thrine.
Yet all are locked in place
else steed and thee
would spin off to parts unknown
leaving, perhaps,
a ripple of discordance
in your wake.

Hang on tight!
Enjoy the ride.

……………………………………………………..

It may be wisdom or folly,
but I have a different view,
born of falling off a time or two …
the companions of the ride are
Spirit, Heart and Mind,
while Soul is the silver shaft
that hold us safe in balance --

but which is which …
a mystery to unravel,
or reality to then define??

……………………………………………………………


We may choose to ride the outer course
and yearn for the ring of dreams,
or dwell on the slower path
of contemplation and reflection --
closer to the pulsing engine.
a calliope unseen but known.

Yet the yearning Heart
must surely be in the center,
such that any impatient shift
must dwell there a while.