FREE WRITE/ANGIE LEISTER 

NO SEEKING. NO SEEKING INDEED-

TRUTH IS FAR REACHING

I TRAVELED HALF A WORLD AWAY-

TO NAIL DOWN TRUTH IN DESOLATE PRAIRIES.

HUNTED WHAT I HAPPENED TO BE CARRYING-

UNTIL THE SAND AT MY FEET STARTED TO SPEAK-

PAINTED PATHWAYS THAT WORKED LIKE WHEELS.

THREE YEARS DISAPPEARED.

I CAME “HOME” TO FIND THAT MY CLOTHES DIDN'T FIT

AND I HAD HAUSA IN MY HAIR.

 

INA BUKATA MAGANA KAMAR HAKA

INA YIN KUSKURIN KASANA.

MY ZUCHIYA CONTAINS-

BABU KOMI..

BAN NA IYA TSMANI- OH WAYO, WAYO-

THE CONTRAST REMINDS ME.

 

SO ME AND DAN WE SLEPT IN THE HILLS

HIDING FROM RULES-

HAPHAZARD ANGELS ANGLING THEIR AWARENESS

OVER THE ERODED EDGES OF SUPPOSED EMPTINESS.

WE LOST ALL THOUGHTS AND LISTENED TO THE WIND

DODGED COPS

AND WITNESSED:

THE TRUTH AS IT IS-

AND THERE IT GOES.

 

AFTER I GOT BACK FROM AFRICA PEOPLE ASKED-

“WELL, HOW WAS IT?”

 

WHAT CAN I ANSWER?

 

I FOUND OUT BANANAS GROW IN LONG PURPLE PODS

THAT WAILING HELPS YOU BURY BABIES.

THAT THE PEOPLE I MET THERE SUFFERED MORE,

BUT WERE HAPPIER THAN,

ANY AMERICANS I HAD EVER SEEN.

THE VILLAGE WAS A BLESSED BLACK HOLE OF REVELATION.

SPECULATION IS A LUXERY

WHEN IT TAKES ALL DAY TO FIND

WATER.

AND THE TRUTH IS? THE TRUTH IS AS IT IS-

AND THERE IS ALIVENESS IN THE GREAT EMPTINESS.

 

NOW I SIT ON THE STREETS OF SAN FRANSISCO.

WATCHING MY INSIDES OSCILLATE;

I AM AFRAID.

I AM

IN BETWEEN WORLDS.

THINKING IN ISLAM, ENGLISH WORDS SEEM SKETCHY.

I LEFT MY VILLAGE 10,000 MILES BEHIND ME.

SO HOW DO THEY COME EVERY NIGHT

TO POPULATE MY CROSS-CULTURE DREAMS ?

HAUSA PEOPLE IN BAY AREA BARS,

KANOURI IMAMS RUNNING THE LIQUOR STORE.

A Legend Begins To Move/Josh Mann

A legend begins to move, the story of a river; a river-like story, the currents flow and move and carry people and boats and sediments this way and that, depositing them in places unfamiliar.  And this legend, this story, this tale has a trail winding and winding to and fro, going wherever it will go.  Where will it end?  The hell if I know.  

But, these threads are important, these continuities in our minds and bodies.  The consistency of functioning, a certain predictability and stability.  And, it gives us our ability to move with the patterns - to harmonize with the dance dancing all around us.  There is a mysterious unfolding of all these things, which we may or may not be able to understand or control.

But, our minds and bodies and hearts share these qualities also.  They move with an elegance, a stately movement that shouts out to the sun and sky and stars - a performance all of its own that is sung to and played for by the very life around us.

On the other hand, the dance can get a bit crazy, violent, and chaotic.  Scary monsters appear and there are things that will indeed hurt us, force us onto our backs and not let us up for a minute, a week, a lifetime at a time.  And, what is there out of time that will let these two sides rhyme?  The wonder of the mystery, the sensing of the harmony, the craziness of our anthropology.  Perhaps the Great Spirit is indeed what moves our very feet, but that doesn't mean every step is a joyride.

So, what else can be said, must be said for the sake of clarity, understanding, and growth?  What will make this story juicy and full of life?  What is it that I must bring forth to save me?  Only this: attend to each moment as if my life depended on it, as if the whole earth and indeed the galaxies spreading infinitely depended on it.  Listen for the message of each moment and let the flow guide me.  All is revealed at the right time, and what I see is exactly what I can see and be the force for good that I know I want to be.  The intention keeps returning, remember to return to this intention, this vow - save all beings from suffering, not just by telling them what to think, but by listening very carefully and demonstrating the Truth skillfully.




Legend-Leyendo/Marsha Campbell

The racehorse wins going away. He runs as if lifted by the wind,
beyond the reach of the other horses he is competing against.
Thus he offers salvation to whoever believes in him;
Esta coiriendo! Es un leyendo-secretariar.

If i keep writing, I may run into something more to say.
But I have such a desire to communicate in Spanish-
as if it were easier than doing so in English,
All my life I could not talk to people,
Then, a few years ago, my boyfriend J.J. told me he had observed
I don't talk. It annoyed me greatly as I felt his remark was a
grave criticism. My shrink even told me I could speak without
thinking ahead what I was going to say. Thus this is the joy of
speaking in Spanish, I surprise myself by not having to think
ahead of time. And now it is also the joy of speaking to J.J.
and he listens! I can see his face rapt, his eyes speaking back
to me, his mouth swimming with smiles.

I learned to talk within the last year only. From my psychiatrist Luca
and the lecture participation groups at Rypin's House Residential
Treatment Center and from J.J.

I learn continuously, I learn to say the first thing that comes into my
head just as, in this writing group, I learn to write the first thing that
comes into my head. There is sometimes struggle but mostly joy.
Now I am embarrassed by my claims but I know more people will
understand. Even if I do sound like an article in the Reader's Digest.

What about poetry? Poetry is beauty. It is a flower opening up. It is the sky.
It is God, Dharma, Spirit, Truth, Reality... I am a poem, so are you, we
make life and we make it beautiful, We are legend.