Saturday, November 3, 2012

Serpent Heart--poem and painting.

          


 Serpent Heart

Last night at 30,000 feet
Flying out of Mexico City
Death passed us by

We,
Travelers, migrant workers, homegoers, Oaxaquenos
in an overloaded Mexicana flight going home for the
fiesta of Los Muertos, de Todos Santos.

In that overloaded plane
migrants with their boxes, bags,
their hopes, memories of their tierra,
and families, their hard work left in the US,
the young, middle aged and old,
hearts yearning to embrace their loved ones again.

Me too, una Americana con raices profundo
en la tierra Oaxaquena, impatient to resume my
other life.

Suddenly at 30,000 feet a big noise
vibrated thru the plane like aloud fog horn. 
I’d been talking to the guys next to me.

We stopt talking.
No one said a thing about the noise.
Pues, no pasa nada.

Death passed by, gave us a look.
That heavy Mexican plane
in a heavy clouded sky.
I acknowledged it. 
My physical life could suddenly end.

I found my mala, blessed by Tibetan masters,
and began OM TARE TU TARE ......Tara’s mantra
until I could understand and feel calm
the possibility of passing into spirit.

In my mind's eye, my guru appeared briefly. 
I didn’t want to die right then.
I knew that no one on the flight did either.

They just wanted to get home
to their pueblos, their queridos, the fiesta.

I prayed for all of us. 
I finished the 108 recitations of the Tara mantra
The noise stopped.
We started talking again.

I loved Oaxaca even more when we landed.

Mitzi Linn.....2009

Thursday, November 1, 2012

The Milky Way in Peru

I love this photo, and can see how the Milky Way is a road in the view of ancient Americans.  It's also like a feathered serpent dancing in space--an icon for me. Happy Nov and Day of the Dead to all today, Nov 1.