Clearing the Secret-ion

Okay. There's a book out. Saw it on Oprah. Now, usually, my reaction to Oprah is to throw a tantrum and tell her, through the T.V. , to STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO. After all, she's not my mommy. (Mental note to self: Clear my summer schedule for whatever books Oprah tells me to read.)

Anyhow, my relationship with T.V. Oprah is complex and perhaps slightly psychotic, but occasionally I get sucked in. On one such occasion, they were talking about a book. (A "fabuloussssss" book according to Ms. Winfrey. Kinda creepy how she stretches words out like that.) The book is The Secret by some whacked out Australian woman who may or may not be crazy with a "K." (Guess which one I think. Heh heh.)

Now, the book. It basically says that you can have ANYTHING you want if you know "THE SECRET." (Creepy echo ensues.) For those who don't wanna know this, heed the following SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! Still with me? Good. THE SECRET is....should I really be telling you this? I mean, it might ruin things. I don't wanna ruin things. I mean, I'm not the kind of guy who....(SMACK!) OK, having just slapped myself silly, the Secret is that you can have anything, literally ANYTHING, if you think about having it a lot. It's called the "LAW OF ATTRACTION." (Once again, the creepy echo. Where is that coming from? Weird.) To distill things further, the essence of this is that if you lose ALL touch with reality and slap a crazy-ass (my favorite adjective) grin on your face while obsessing over that 55 Gallon tub'o Cheez Whiz at Costco, eventually, and I do mean EVENTUALLY, you'll be up to your ear hair in Cheez Whiz. (Really gross image. I apologize on behalf of the Editor.) Now, the only thing between you and your industrial sized barrel'o cheesiness is the slightest negative thought. Hmmmm. Can anyone say "hyper vigilance" and "OCD"?

Alright. Ya got me. I'm not a fan. This kind of message can lead people to a delusional sense of life and entitlement. C'mon, do you really NEED 55 Gallons of Cheez Whiz or 50 Gajillion Dollars or that guy/gal from the Bowflex commercials? The real "secret" to attain happiness is to realize the blessings and small miracles already present in our lives. If we're all honest with ourselves, the good in our lives far exceeds the bad. It's only when we lose perspective that we REALLY REALLY NEED the Playboy Mansion, Bill Gates' checking account, a bacon-wrapped Dove Bar or that gardener guy on Desperate Housewives. (Personally, I think that Teri Hatcher is H O T.) Live in the real world of small miracles and everything else is icing. If you NEED this book, go ahead and get it. It might make a good door stop. Otherwise, we already have what we need to be happy. It's all within.

"The laddie reckons himself a poet." (A line from "The Wall".)

Vapor Trail

A sort of gravity alive in time
when what is and what flows
are not separate but united
in mind, alive in space
in air exhaled from the depth
of a fleshy, angular temple,
whispered in that sacred cleft
echoed through smoky light
and tinted shafts, along pale lips
and darkly granted eyes.

A fire lies within this truth,
the gaze of which I pray
never falls upon the
shining visage of a child,
but upon the withered
patterns of blood-stained flags
buried in sand too dirty
to hide in the glass of time.

Tiresias

I wanted to burn with the fire of pride,
To become a burnt offering to
the God inside.
I wanted to feel alive, away from this,
To arrive in a world free of pain.
I gathered vessels of repentance divine
and felt as though their burdens were mine.
I drank the blood, ate the flesh, carried the tree
To a place of decay.
The path, the Truth and reality of this
cannot sustain ones such as I
who refuse to be skeletal souls,
Peering into blinding light,
Reverent for the gift of death.
To say I want to be free and crushed beneath
An eternal gaze is not a simple scream.
It requires the talents of those stored away,
In rooms made of pillows
And sanitary corridors,
Places where doctors can’t see the moon.

The Lady

Hath not our eyes laid weary
upon the face of earth
that all inherent beings
retain their basic worth
and none that effort cast
can be for evil saved
until the moon has shed it's blood
and the ocean speaks its waves
in whispers
in whispers
to her that shines fairly
within this living dark
a ray of light so nobly born
the place that vision marks
with stars
with stars
to whoever claims her truth
a chest in treasure wrought
the blessing of her wisdom
is all that I have sought

The Noose -- A song by A Perfect Circle

So glad to see you well
Overcome and completely silent now
With heaven's help
You cast your demons out
And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you off your cloud
But I'm more than just a little curious
How you're planning to go about
Making your amends to the dead
To the dead

Recall the deeds as if they're all
Someone else's atrocious stories
Now you stand reborn before us all
So glad to see you well

And not to pull your halo down
Around your neck and tug you to the ground
But I'm more than just a little curious
How you're planning to go about
Making your amends to the dead
To the dead
To the dead

With your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping
Your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping down [repeated]

With your halo slipping down
Your halo slipping down

Your halo slipping down to choke you now