(As you may recall, last week, Craignito put his solitary thoughts on paper. They ended with the following poem – the last stanza of which come from the lips of the old poet just before he dies)
HOW CALMLY DOES THE OLIVE BRANCH
OBSERVE THE SKY BEGIN TO BLANCH
WITHOUT A CRY, WITHOUT A PRAYER,
WITH NO BETRAYAL OF DESPAIR.
SOMETIME WHEN NIGHT OBSCURES THE TREE,
THE ZENITH OF ITS LIFE WILL BE.
GONE PAST FOREVER, AND FROM THENCE,
A SECOND HISTORY WILL COMMENCE.
A CHRONICLE NO LONGER GOLD,
A BARGAINING WITH MIST AND MOLD
AND FINALLY THE BROKEN STEM,
THE PLUMMETING TO EARTH AND THEN:
AN INTERCOURSE NOT WELL DESIGNED
FOR BEINGS OF A GOLDEN KIND.
WHOSE NATIVE GREEN MUST ARCH ABOVE,
THE EARH’S OBSCENE, CORRUPTING LOVE.
O’ COURAGE, COULD YOU NOT AS WELL,
SELECT A SECOND PLACE TO DWELL?
NOT ONLY IN THAT GOLDEN TREE,
BUT IN THE FRIGHTENED HEART OF ME?
AND STILL THE RIPE FRUIT AND THE BRANCH
OBSERVE THE SKY BEGIN TO BLANCH,
WITHOUT A CRY, WITHOUT A PRAYER,
WITH NO BETRAYAL OF DESPAIR!
(As it turns out, the reason last year’s Week 4 post repeated the old poet’s poem was for more than just continuity’s sake. We find Craignito talking to himself)
CRAIGNITO: “Your Iness, which will it be? WILL IT BE RHYME OR WILL IT BE PROSE?”
INESS: : “YOUR QUESTION IS ANSWERED IN THE WORDS THAT YOU SEE.”
CRAIGNITO: “Oh, I get it, when it comes to ‘be,’ what will ‘be,’ we’ll ‘see.’”
INESS: “Yes.”
CRAIGNITO: “Okay, but before I go any further there’s some unfinished business that I must attend. Regarding the old man’s poem in last week’s post, I left out an entire stanza right near the end. It’s an important one, as you will see. That’s why the poem is back in its entirety. The old man’s last request is an easy one for me. That’s why they call me Craignito, the Master Key. Next time through, old timer, this is what I suggest for you. See if MKMMA is being offered, and sign up. That’s what you should do!”
(At this point Craignito begins to ramble)
CRAIGNITO: “Here’s a little ditty, that ain’t very pretty. Written on the side of the page, near the number 12 in Master Key’s Lesson number 4. It could have been less, I wish it were more.”
(Just to lend an assist, in case you’ve forgotten, this is the paragraph to which Craignito refers:
“Unless you do this, you had better not start at all, because modern psychology tells us that when we start something and do not complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming the habit of failure; absolute, ignominious failure. If you do not intend to do a thing, do not start; if you do start, see it through even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something, do it; let nothing, no one, interfere; the “I” in you has determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no longer any argument.” – Charles Haanel)
CRAIGNITO: “Or in other words, if you’ve already started, it’s too late. No turning back now, this is your fate.
VOTL comes to town with such valuable information, The next thing you know, indoctrination.
Some will argue it’s their right to choose; Their eyes glued to the TV and the nightly news.
Others argue it’s our right to know. They’ll know all right; from the top of their heads, to the tip of each toe.
Is it coersion to control before the other has their say? When the time for choosing is over, and then decide for them, yours is the way?
Or is it cohesive integration of the highest kind, When the cause is the source, and people are acting as if totally blind?”
NARRATOR 2 OF THIS PRESENT DAY (So there we have first mention, that begs the question, “Divine intervention?” : VOTL – VAMPIRES OF THE LIGHT – If you wish it could be, wish with all your might!)
NARRATOR 1 OF THAT EARLIER DAY: (And another goofy little side note
Comes along to play.
When kids are left without guidance,
Their whim is the way.)
INESS: “So correct me if I’m wrong, Mr. Right. To get it straight in my head, before I say, Good night!
You’re saying it’s not a matter of a this or a that, or even a that or a this. It’s how they bond and blend together, as if sealed with a kiss.
If in greater harmony they can now co-exist, Does a ‘this’ become a ‘thas,’ or a ‘that’ become a thist?”
CRAIGNITO: “Depends nought upon your mental acuity, Your physical ingenuity,
Your spiritual intuitivity; Not the theory of relativity;
To know a label is a label, to know this is a lamp, and that over there is a table;
Or to know Betty White Has never been Clark Gable.
But tis a very good point you ‘ve seen Because I know exactly what you mean.
These words we’ve chosen, don’t keep us frozen, When two hearts, two minds, two souls, come together, share their essence, and it’s a win/win,
Should the names give a sign, some significant clue, When so much has changed, they each seem brand new?
Sure there’s the husband and wife, Mrs., and that sort of thing…” NARRATOR 1: (Then, as if somehow joined together, both phones they had started to ring. And with that, they soon departed. Not too far it was, from exactly where they started.)
NARRATOR 2: [So that narrator of that previous time, Was filled with the gist of the story, overtaken by rhyme.
But, as for me, it’s getting quite late, and once again the curfew bell has spoken. But before I, too, or two, or three, or four must now depart, a few more lines, as my nightey night token: (geez it must be contagious. I got too close. This is outrageous.)
QUESTION: “Why is it so, that we get what we give?”
ANSWER: “Because it is a spiritual world we walk upon and live.”
QUESTION: “But I always thought that what goes around, comes around, in greater measure.”
ANSWER: “Indeed, this is true, but deep inside you, brews the growth that you treasure.
Build your courage, your confidence, with greater deeds of service, increase your power. Hoist high your hope, fill it with the love for those it is given, and let it shower. Forgive with gratitude that which has past and for a time made you sour; Then beside every man you can stand, and above them all, you wIll tower.”]
Aloha Loren Thanks for sharing your insights, prose, Q&A you always having me thinking 🙂
Great insights Loren, this has really given me food for thought.
Thanks Deirdre! A couple of great things about food for thought: You can eat as much as you want and you always have exactly the same amount left over!