—Poetry by Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan
THE POET WHO ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN
(for Alan)
After having been charged with pornography
And fleeing to foreign nations
To avoid prosecution,
Fasting for forty days and nights
On writer’s block, alone,
Completely humiliated, abnegated,
Harassed and shamed to the bone,
It was time to ascend into Heaven.
No crucifixion for this Jewish man,
He would have to ascend on his own.
No crown of thorns,
No spear in his side,
This young man
Would have to depend
Solely on what he had shown:
That the world is full
Of howling screams
And self-deception,
Into darkness, alone-ness and pain,
The kind that tears apart brains
And sends them
In search of ascension,
Scrambling for the exits
To any strange place, but here.
Out of madness, into light,
On the Way to Naropa.
________________________
—Medusa, thanking Joseph Nolan for his poem and photo today!
(for Alan)
After having been charged with pornography
And fleeing to foreign nations
To avoid prosecution,
Fasting for forty days and nights
On writer’s block, alone,
Completely humiliated, abnegated,
Harassed and shamed to the bone,
It was time to ascend into Heaven.
No crucifixion for this Jewish man,
He would have to ascend on his own.
No crown of thorns,
No spear in his side,
This young man
Would have to depend
Solely on what he had shown:
That the world is full
Of howling screams
And self-deception,
Into darkness, alone-ness and pain,
The kind that tears apart brains
And sends them
In search of ascension,
Scrambling for the exits
To any strange place, but here.
Out of madness, into light,
On the Way to Naropa.
________________________
—Medusa, thanking Joseph Nolan for his poem and photo today!
Did you remember to set your clock ahead an hour?