Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Goddess Sighting



Aloha,  Friend!



"Youth, large, lusty, loving -- 
Youth, full of grace, force, fascination.
Do you know that Old Age may come after you
with equal grace, force, fascination?"
Walt Whitman







"When you possess light within,
                                                       you see it externally." 

       Anaïs Nin








The saint is the one
who walks through the dark paths
of the world, 
himself a light."

Felix Adler






If you must speak ill of another,
do not speak it,
write it in the sand
near the water's edge."

Napoleon Hill






Time To Go!


"Inside my empty bottle
I was constructing a lighthouse
while all the others were making ships."

Charles Simic




<<:>>




The Hawaiian Goddess of the volcano,
the builder of these isles,
is mostly associated with the Big Island 
where she is still pouring
hot lava,
and still regarded by Hawaiians
(real, ethnic Hawaiians)
as 'Tutu Pele'  Grandmother Pele. 
It is in those lands that she is most often seen.

She can be young & beautiful, 
or incredibly aged - 
and beautiful in a different way.

There are stories of locals
giving Pele a ride without knowing it- 
till later.

Like after the lovely young Hawaiian girl
riding in the car with them
begins to seem more mature
than they first had thought;
till she lights a proffered cigarette
with her finger tip
and asks to get out no where in particular
as a smiling great grandmother.


The day I saw Pele
I was riding my motorcycle
down the last stretch of Kaena Point coast road

along Keawaula Beach,

(better known as Yokohama Bay 
or 'Yokes')
all the way out on Oahu's western tip;
considered a leaping-off place 
for souls leaving this world.
Riding along in the flower of my years
I noticed an aged Hawaiian woman
walking on the roadside with her little dog.
She radiated - something-
taught me - something-
all without a glance,
greeting, or words

Seeing her opened wisdom to me, 
like a gift.
I saw how little it takes to be happy
when one is open to the simple glory
that surrounds.

"A place to sleep out of the rain,
a day relatively free of pain,
a companionable pet
disability and death:
not yet."

An insight, a grace, a gift.
I sometimes think of that
when I'm bereft.

How little it really takes
to be a slightly stooped goddess
walking down this road. . .


Thanks for walking with me a ways.
Your comment is a lovely gift; leave one! 
         warmly, cloudia