p-aum for Christmas

[Guest guest]

THE DESCENT

 

I can find my way down

having made my

ascent on this ladder

obscure/invisible--

i know each rung

that faltered

that was secure

and where my foot fell.

 

I can make my way down

with easy peace

for i've dropped my burden

on the way up--

and with empty hands

i step down

onto the ground

where a figure remains,

reminds of what is eternal.

 

I can keep the ladder

in mind

as an old friend who taught

and then dissipated

into tranquil sky, grey or blue--

but will not clutch to the sides

for i am home,

rock solid in the thought

that i am.

 

and the ladder was never

and the ladder was i

and this is the way

that the Christ comes down,

the way that he Buddha finds

the root of the tree

this

is only the way that i see.

this way down

the way to sit

to

be

--gen berlin