a mamaist gloss

     




     The title says, Listen to the noise love's been making...
     The first line says, Anybody can speak these lines. (And since 
            I'm anybody, I am.)
     The next line says, I was raised as a parody, a patchwork.
     The next line says, Our town was famous for spreading
            hollowness.
     The next line says, My name was rejection. I was called
            "No-tie, No-two-me." But who could live like that?
     The next line says, When the mirror commands, "Reverse
            everything!" then is the homecoming you seek perceived.
            For here, beneath the beatific dream, is Buddha.
     The next line says, Yes, you're a wild cool lazy poet who can  
            paint the moon a delirious egg and is crazy friend for life.       
            But to achieve true identity you must make a name for your 
            Self! Love has to recognize this distinction.
     The next line says, Now go ahead! Untext the load. All art can   
            heal by helping us recall who we are... For out of these    
            cleansing waters the snake emerges an eagle.
     The next line says, Swimming out in the deep: it takes a lot 
            of concentration...
     The next line says, Remember, this is a sacred process--a   
            human being is being formed here. If you're afraid, others  
            will be afraid too.
     The next line says, Stop trying to be with the moment that's  
            just passed. The point of our trip is that we love each other.  
            We gotta live our dying!
     The next line says, Now, let's go down and see the light...
     The next line says, In trying to unify the threads of a disturbed   
            psyche, everything happens in the same instant as you're     
            letting go.
     The next line says, It's a kind of surrender to the moment, and 
            a deep deep listening...
     The next line says, Here walls have ears... money talks...
            time flies... opportunity knocks... and ideas catch fire.
     The next line says, Facing your pain may at times be 
            overwhelming, but by a leap of faith you realize you are     
            connected to others.     
     The next line says, For deep down we are all brothers and  
            sisters. The aim, for the mind not yet prepared, is to live    
            this reality.
     The next line says, Yes, you may think you die and that's 
            the end. But it's just the beginning. The moment that you 
            die is the moment you are reborn.
     The next line says, And, yes, it's true--everyone should know    
            they'll be going out the same way they came in--in a  
            blinding flash of light!

    
    The next line says, But not too deep now, not too deep...
           You see how it's all connected--how the writer's life and   
           the writer's light are converging? how going home is the   
           waking up from all your dreams?
    The next line says, Now entering a new phase--acceptance
           and tolerance of these depths and all its contents.
    The next line says, O isn't it wonderful to know something you 
           can't see but know is there? Be glad you saw it so others 
           could see it.
    The next line says, Yes, you thought you were hearing a story of 
           your Muse,  but what you've been hearing is the Muse of 
           your story.
    The next line says, Now rest your weary bones, so you can fight 
           another day. What's in store is a brightening of your life.
    The next line says, In the meantime, given an opportunity
           to reflect your moral self you will be trying to give others 
           what you got. But you'd be better off just walking naked 
           through the world.
    The next-to-last line says, Be not afraid: Mistakes will have a    
           way of pointing you in the right direction.
    The last line says, And, remember--placid placid lifts the 
           mind up.





Botsford, Alan. mamaist: learning a new language. Kamakura, Japan, Minato No Hito, 2002.