The Crown Above
A triptych of Mayan poems by Sam Flot
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(The Crown Above)
Jade
Circling Neck
Old
Mayan footpaths
Traipsing
and running through the jungle
Offering
symbiotic gestures of
Decay
and Survival
Thrusting
proudly and sincerely
Into
humbled spaces and places
Where
They
built plazas and pyramids
Where
they built buildings
Lasting
for centuries
Fighting
off disease and Europeans
Arriving
like infestations of invaders
For
centuries and centuries and centuries
Over
under down above
Through
different kinds of jungle vines and
Enormous
leaves that stay
For
years and years and years
Over
under down and above
Walking
down the path
Which
leads to the center
Climbing
to the top of the pyramid
Jade
circling neck
Shaman
speaks to spirits
To
see Four points -- From which to
go
To
feel Four winds -- That always
blow
To
observe Four seasons -- Passing slow
To
say Four prayers -- In cosmic glow
Singing
and chanting
In
a circle of candles
Clay
pots full of water
Surround
the shaman’s beings
Inner
and Outer
Inner
and Outer
Connecting
to the moon
Jade
circling neck
Shaman
speaks to spirits
While
their mystical auras are
Outside
and well off the axis
Off
any logical idea of a grid
The
ethereal is real
If
not surreal
8.10.oh9 fLot
(The Crown Above)
The Skulltop Releasing
The Skulltop Releasing
Volcanic
rock is no accident
Art
carves itself out from the inside
Initializing
the distinct instinct inherently
Singling
out the distinguishing dancers
To
be catapulted into history’s corrupt pages
To
be depicted on a ceramic vessel
Twirling
in circles
Arms
awry and legs on fire
The
music melds rhythms and melodies
A
thicket ablaze in a musical maze
The
dancers dance in circles
Round
and round
Shaking
tambourines and rattling gourds
The
air is thick and the energy is at a fever pitch
Arriving
at the middle where a holy man sits
Arms
outstretched
Palms
open to heaven
An
elegant and elite elder statesman
Wearing
long brilliant black braids
On
each side of his head and
Jewels
of jade circling his neck
He
is concentrating intensely
Both
eyes
Firmly
but gently closed
Chanting
the visions his eyelids release
Up
to the brain born to this vision
Flying
for the first time
Through
air and over land and water
Seeing
these pyramids
Emanating
upside down energy
As
the music climbs the middle stairs
Climbing
the steep slope straight up
To
the upside down top
Balancing
a piece of pie on the precipice
An
idea sent forth to be
Inspiration
Sent
blasting out like volcanic ash from a volcano
An
era born form the form of
The
crown above the skull top
Carving
itself out
From
the inside
7.9.2012
sam flot
(The
Crown Above)
The Fulcrum of Transcendence
Doomed
Mayan creatures
Emanating
up out above and
Down
out of
Skull-top
open to
Releasing
birds
From
Hairy Nest of Birthing
Eras
or ideas
Surrounded
around
The
Last Uncrowned
Emperor’s
Throne
Never
challenged
To
hold preservation at bay
To
build a tribute to Sisyphus
Upside-down
pyramids of energy
Stylistically
building
Architectural
rivalry
Intellectual
revelry
Calibrated
happily
Like
a plate covers
A
stove-pipe-hole-in-the-wall
Or
A
hallway that disappears
Into
a closet
Blocked
or allowing
Only
limited infiltration
Arms
outstretched
Eyes
closed
Out
of concentration
Inside
no reluctance
To
out pour it all out of
The
crown above
The
third-eye fulcrum of transcendence
s.
flot 7.13.oh-ate