Initiation for Friend Thadd
I am an anthropologist.
The tribe I’m studying insist
they are prepared to accept me
into their closed community.
But first I must be purified.
So I am stripped to my bare hide.
Then thrust into the steaming heat
of the sweat lodge and made to eat.
Some buttons from a cactus plant
The shaman wails a plaintive chant.
I soon grow used to nudity
It seems somehow to set me free.
From the mind set that I know
how easily I can let go.
I seem to know instinctively
I’m subject to authority
Some higher power judging me
to see if I am fit to be.
Entrusted with their sacred lore
Which will change me for evermore.
I see strange visions in the steam
Am I awake or do I dream
I am entranced by what I see
and I embrace it eagerly.
I’m not the man I used to be.
Therefore it follows logically
that I will see things differently
perhaps with renewed clarity.
It seems that I have passed the test
The shaman tells me I must rest.
I fall into a dreamless sleep
which lets new knowledge slowly seep
deep into my subconscious mind
my old beliefs are left behind.
Old knowledge lost, new knowledge gained
It can’t be easily explained.
So that is why I do not try.
I know I could not satisfy
your raging curiosity.
I am oath bound to secrecy.
I’m still an anthropologist
but those deep feelings still persist
I gained from my experience
although I have no evidence
to show that I have really changed.
My thinking process re-arranged
I know I m connected to
all living things and so are you.
The difference being you don’t know
because you did not undergo
initation as I did
until you do some things are hid.
10-Feb-09
http: // blog.my space.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Sonnet: On Knowledge
Knowledge is one thing priceless, people want;
Knowledge is something gained by labor long;
Knowledge is infinite; master, you-can't;
Knowledge is changeable, much like a song.
Knowledge is deeper than the oceans deep;
Knowledge is larger than the Universe;
Knowledge is barely in life, just a peep;
Knowledge if badly used becomes God's curse.
Knowledge remains undiminished, tho' you- share;
Knowledge gives man, a civilised outlook;
Knowledge if improper, you ought to pare;
Knowledge is gained from Nature and by book.
Knowledge can make a man a wiser one;
Knowledge gives Wisdom in the longer run.
poem by John Celes
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Forbidden Knowledge For Dr H.Sheth
Driven by curiosity
the monkey mind of modern man.
Creates new technology
to find out everything he can.
Regardless of the consequence.
He has to know, he is obsessed.
Although rarely can he make sense
of things that catch his interest.
He has to try and satisfy
his raging curiosity.
The normal rules do not apply
to someone searching earnestly
for answers to the mysteries
Which have bedevilled humankind.
Throughout all mankind’s history.
The answers we will never find.
Some knowledge is forbidden us
Because we do not need to know
We’re immature and dangerous.
We must accept the Status Quo
Until we learn to think ahead
Consider probabilities
alternatives to use instead
within our capabilities.
We are spendthrift and profligate
Take what we want without remorse
Destroy much more than we create.
Greed is the creed which we endorse.
04/04/2009
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Keep Searching
In the lust for knowledge,
I have lost myself within.
I have forgotten who I was
and what a family was for.
I drifted into a world
not letting anyone else in.
Now I want to break free,
but I have forgotten whom I was
and the knowledge that I had gained
could not help me now.
As I ventured back to reality
where no one knows me anymore.
For years, I lived within
the world of my own choosing
and lost the essence of being me.
Now I search for things that I left behind,
things that are not there anymore.
They have disappeared
like the whispers in time.
I am left abandoned
and my knowledge cannot help me.
Everything I strived for
doesn’t mean much anymore.
I have lost the most important things
that makes a life survive.
Humbly I reach out,
but sadly, there is no one there.
I will keep searching for it
and see what tomorrow brings.
18 -19 May 2009
poem by David Harris
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Beyond our ken for M'lady Francesca
Mans boundless curiosity
is not and will never be
satisfied sufficiently
He can’t accept the status quo
There is so much he wants to know
He is obsessed and can’t let go
He seeks for knowledge constantly
but is not wise enough to see.
There is no end there cannot be.
Compelled by curiosity
Inventing new technology
to try and solve the mystery
Of who and what and why he’s here.
But he is doomed to fail I fear.
New questions constantly appear.
The more he learns the less he knows
Although his stock of knowledge grows
His understanding of it slows.
The mind of man can’t comprehend
The quest for knowledge has no end.
We fool ourselves if we pretend.
That there is nothing else to find
and everything has been defined.
A fact to which I am resigned.
Though I’ll continue to pursue
each and every smallest clue.
I have no choice I’m compelled to.
Sunday,18 July 2010
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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There can only be one absolute truth.
I thought I wrote but only dreamt a poem showing my contempt
For those who claim to know the truth. I realised when but a youth.
They claim divine authority but had no proof to offer me
I can’t believe that any creed can provide the proof I need.
Amongst themselves they can’t agree so they argue perpetually
Nor do they practice what they preach I think the truth’s beyond their reach
I can accept the faith you hold. I would not dare to be so bold
To think I dare to criticise what you believe. I’ve found it wise.
To tolerate whatever creed which seems to satisfy a need?
That can bring great comfort to those followers to whom it’s true
I seek for truth I cannot find; but would it bring me peace of mind
Or would I feel compelled to share the truth with all men every where
I do not think I could achieve a change in what folks now believe.
I will continue with my quest, I am convinced it’s for the best.
The knowledge gained from all I’ve read is safely stored inside my head
For me to ponder quietly. Beliefs peculiar to me
Although I know they may not be true. I think for now they’ll have to do
Until I find fresh evidence which seems to me make good sense
I believe only bodies die. The soul goes on triumphantly
Transmuted to a higher plane before being reborn again
What I believe may not be true what you believe is up to you
We will find out eventually that is a solid certainty.
24/10/2009
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Fair Exchange? for M'Lady Ernestine
A man alone is incomplete.
He needs a helpmeet by his side
a fact from which you cannot hide.
He may be self sufficient
but I am sure that nature meant.
He needs a mate to be content.
Man was not meant to live alone.
Though he can cook and clean and bake
he needs a mate make no mistake.
A bachelor but not for long.
Some pretty maid will come along
and prove to him that he is wrong.
She will convince him easily.
She can fulfil all of his needs
the oldest tale of all succeeds.
He takes the bait with open eyes
and then he finds to his surprise.
That she not he has won the prize.
He may look back with some regret.
In fact it is quite normal to,
but things have changed as they must do.
A married man you are constrained
your roving eye must be restrained.
But you’ve lost less than you have gained.
Though bachelors may be quite free
to come and go just as they please
without responsibility.
No longer foot loose fancy free
you will adapt quite easily.
Swap freedom for security.
10-Jul-08
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Sense And Sensitivity
I try to keep an open mind
for things that cannot be defined.
Foreknowledge and telepathy,
anything extra sensory.
Clairvoyance and clairaudience,
which seem to use a different sense
from the five which we all use
It seems we aren’t allowed to choose
Levels of sensitivity.
are distributed randomly.
Although we try we can’t deny
that some unwritten rules apply
That these wild talents do exist
That’s why belief will long exist.
We can’t present proof positive.
All the evidence we can give
is anecdotal at the best
and fails all scientific test
Administered by tight closed minds
absorbed in prejudice which blinds
to any possibility.
Which they can’t touch or taste or see.
Although I do not understand
I cannot dismiss out of hand
Abilities which some possess.
but are reluctant to express.
Because they do not want to be
Subject to foolish mockery
You are convinced it can’t be true
and you refuse to listen to
any opposing argument
Your mind tight closed you are content
to live your life in ignorance
. Ascribing everything to chance
A choice you are entitled to
if you prefer a blinkered view.
Because some things can’t be defined
I much prefer an open mind.
I can accept quite easily
not every body will agree.
There’s so much that we do not know
about the human mind.Although
it seems to be illogical
I think nothing’s impossible.
08/04/2009
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Far Too Little We Know (Enclosed Triplets) (In Answer To John Keats)
I
Not all kinds of things can be explained
by mere science or by some philosophy
and so the essence of life has remained
without its knowledge ever been gained
a very great kind of strange mystery
in that it does exist unrestrained,
when couples from pleasure have not abstained,
as in love some small cells brings a child to be
while after death life cannot be maintained
or knowledge of its wellspring be retained
while its source seems divine, something Godly;
not all kinds of things can be explained.
II
While some mysteries still has a haven
in their own undisturbed happenings
while human science still measures uneven;
if texture, colour and waves in heaven
of a rainbow is in the knowledge of things
the impact, the magic of it is not given,
even when men are despotic or craven,
on faith like butterflies, angels have wings,
as does remain the lore of the raven,
even the devil has hoofs that are cloven,
some stories have got some imaginings
while some mysteries still has a haven.
III
People might think I am on the loony side
but not all discoveries have been made
and to real faith some powers remain wide,
a man may have a tender hearted bride
as true love's mysteries do not just fade
while all their guests do them well wishes bide,
when hidden facts appear from where they hide,
new kinds of things may appear from the shade,
with knowledge man wants to rule and divide,
in life by limited resources we decide
the way of things and do others persuade
and to real faith some powers remain wide.
IV
Yet still far too little we do know
even of ourselves and of our earth,
about the way that everything does go,
we experience the sun's early glow
while we learn and adapt from our very birth
are caught by the wonder of drops of snow,
yearn for something more beyond the shadow,
for a Supreme Being that knows our true worth
in life's daily continuous ebb and flow
and in rebellion we suffer blow by blow,
while to existence there is no rebirth,
yet still far too little we do know.
[Reference: 'Lamia' by John Keats.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Tossed Aside
In today’s society,
we are careless with things.
Most broken pieces
that could easily be mended
are just tossed aside.
It is not only material things,
human beings fall from grace
so easily to technology
becoming rejected
and eventually tossed aside.
It is as if anything said to be
passed their sell by date
is hastily thrown away.
Hopefully one day
we will come to realise technology
isn’t the be all to end all
and more knowledge
through hard work and experience
will not be hastily tossed aside.
27 May 2011
poem by David Harris
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Who You Are
Who you are is equivalent to the knowledge
that you obtain throughout your life
and the passion you have for using and
sharing that knowledge with other people.
It is with this knowledge
that we create our own future
and the future for those to come.
I strongly believe that every bit of knowledge I have gained
has been connected to everything I have done,
everyone I have known, and all I will do in my life.
poem by F.L. Racca Sr.
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Open Minds
Open your mind,
to things unknown,
search the universe
of your soul.
Open your mind,
to your heart
of feelings
buried deep within.
Open your mind
to your ear
of nature and
its beauty.
Open your mind
to knowledge
of things
unlearned yet.
Open your mind
to days gone
by of memories
vanished away.
Open your mind
to your feelings
hidden away
deep in your heart.
Open your mind
to my heart
to know how
i feel toward you.
wrote 3-31-07
Knowledge
What happens to our knowledge
when we pass from here?
Will it be buried with us
for an eternity to be undisturbed,
or do we leave tracks
of our knowledge behind?
Great minds have already written down
things they did not want to forget.
Is it possible that great knowledge
is gathering dust somewhere
in those forgotten chapters
of our history?
Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings
of airplanes and submarines.
Were they just fanciful dreams,
or were they reality?
Could these things have existed,
but of their presence in history
this knowledge for them departed?
What about Atlantis
with its knowledge unbound.
Did it really disappear
beneath the waves without a sound,
and the knowledge that they held,
did that all vanish with them?
We can only speculate
where all this knowledge goes
as new minds dream of things
that may have existed in the past.
Which leaves us with the question,
what happens to our knowledge
when we pass away from here?
4 September 2008
poem by David Harris
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Sonnet: Library
Where knowledge’s stack’d, arranged in books on racks!
Tho’ grows old, obsolete: does not decrease;
Where reading, writing are the chief attacks;
Where flipping pages cannot ever cease.
Where human beings become cerebral!
Their Betz cells getting invigorated;
Where doubts are cleared in ways most liberal,
And scholastic works get integrated.
Where exercises, brain can re-incur,
And grow in wisdom offered by great souls;
Where love of knowledge will always recur,
And men get clothed in civilized more roles!
’Tis library where knowledge gained is cheap!
Where heart and mind together beep and leap.
poem by John Celes
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The Supreme Soul
In awakeness,
I was there,
My mind was there,
My body was there,
In my dreams,
I was there,
My mind was there,
But my body was lost.
In my deep sleep,
I was there,
But I lost the mind,
So do I lost my body.
In my state beyond,
In the depth of my sleep,
I never sleep,
Nor did I awake,
It was a state,
Of no movement,
No dreams,
And no thinking!
I was without knowledge,
But I was the knowledge,
I was the illumination,
Of the supreme soul,
With whom I parted
On my birth.
I lost my memory,
Of my parent soul
But for the active
Five senses
Of my body,
The gift of the supreme soul!
I attained him,
When I lost the senses,
When I lost the earthly bond
When I lost the turbulations,
Of the earthly passions!
In union with him
The supreme soul
I lost my self,
And my soul,
Melted and immersed
With the supreme soul!
poem by Vadakkumpurath Ramesan
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Perchance to dream for friend thad
I dreamt or maybe dreamt I dreamt.
A lucid dream I could control,
in which I thought I would attempt
to contact my immortal soul.
I moved up to a higher plane.
Which I accomplished easily.
I thought perhaps that I could gain.
Some knowledge relevant to me.
I met myself and face to face
we could converse quite naturally.
Discussed the trials I must face
This seemed quite logical to me.
Was it a dream? I can’t be sure
I only know it seemed to be.
Somehow it served to reassure
me that all is as it ought to be.
Was it a dream or possibly
an altered state of consciousness.
A different reality
It could be either one I guess.
What does it matter anyway.
A dream may have reality
which we perceive a different way.
When viewed imaginatively.
Imagination is the key
which opens portals we can pass
in spirit form so easily
But must return too soon alas.
I dreamt or maybe dreamt I dreamt
a lucid dream I could control.
Perchance I failed in my attempt.
Not ready yet to be made whole.
29-Jan-09 http: // blog.myspace.com/poeticpiers
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Where Have I Been?
'Where have you been? '
Where have I been?
Giving myself the opportunity to grow.
Reflecting.
Dissecting.
And self examining.
With the doing of those things,
That will bring an understanding.
Knowledge obtained,
Needs the support from others...
For more of it to be gained.
And I embrace those,
Who have come face to face with change.
Those who comprehend,
Nothing accepted today will remain the same.
Where have I been?
Giving myself the opportunity to grow.
And 'that' which isn't doing it...
I have to let it go!
Without debate or loss of patience.
I am reaching for a seeking of clarity.
I've sought Sun.
I am not one comfortable in hiding...
When those cloudy days come,
To delight in disguise.
My vision needs to be freed of fog or smog.
Where have I been?
Giving myself the opportunity to grow.
And preparing for all kinds of weather.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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The birth of poetry for M lady Mary Gordley
The birth of poetry.
Before the advent of the written word.
When all knowledge was passed on orally.
then history relied on memory.
Men had to memorise all that they heard
Perhaps this was the birth of poetry.
The tribal elders found they could recall
in simple rhyming verses best of all.
Easily committed to memory.
Long, long before recorded history.
The elders chose and trained one man to be
The current guardian of their legacy
of knowledge they had garnered carefully.
When all knowledge was passed on orally
Then history relied on memory
Poetic piers
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12-May-08
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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The Most Sought After Thing
What is that one thing which we all crave or want the most of in life?
is it wealth, health, fame, knowledge, love, a perfect husband or wife?
Or is it in fact a combination of all these things and yet even so much more?
something, perhaps that is everlasting, once gained can never be lost at all?
If such a thing did exist then could it be acquired or had?
and if so how could one have it and do good instead of bad?
Where would such a thing be found or come from or who be the giver thereof?
Could it be made available to all at any time when there was a genuine need of?
Is it a state of divinity the source of infinite power, knowledge and bliss
that each and every one can attain being their birthright but only dismiss?
It just so happens that all the true religions of the world seem to point in that direction
calling it specifically by a different name while having the same underlying conception.
An ultimate realised state of immortality without any restriction of time or space
transcending body, mind and individuality; every subtle and phenomenal place.
Not subject to any change or decay, though embracing all within itself seeing
and as one without any second, immaculate and complete, an unlimited being.
A supreme unique state of freedom and really the most sought after thing,
a plane of being of pure wisdom which in its wake all the above does bring.
That one victory of all victories which wins yourself and your true Selfhood
the real purpose and meaning of all life culminating in Universal Godhood.
There have been many in the past and even in the present who have gained this state
although it's virtually impossible to attain on one's own without being their good mate.
So dedicate yourself for the goal with love to gain their divine favour or benevolent grace
by a pure mind and heart seek their company letting one of them guide you to That Place.
poem by George Krokos
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Boundless curiosity for friend Thad.
The world is full of mysteries.
Colossal buildings left behind
by earlier societies.
Their purposes still ill defined
Although the archaeologists
advance their favourite theories.
The mysteries will long persist.
Their different hypotheses.
Cannot be proven any way.
They’re based on their experience
Of living in the world to day.
A different frame of reference.
Which cannot possibly apply
They saw the world quite differently.
I do not think we can deny
We’re blinkered in the way we see.
The evidence which we can find,
We can’t interpret properly
The artefacts they left behind
Their uses are a mystery.
Though we attempt to classify
we can’t be sure we are correct.
These relics from past history
aren’t always what we would expect.
Temples and Tombs or Palaces
The truth is that we do not know
Secular or sacred places.
There is no evidence to show.
That we can state with confidence
confirms our modern theories.
We have no point of reference
With which everyone agrees.
The arguments rage to and fro
As experts wrangle bitterly
They daren’t admit they do not know.
Although they don’t quite obviously.
At best an educated guess
Must be the best we can expect.
From experts trying to impress
The other experts I suspect.
It seems to me improbable
That we will solve these mysteries
Our mind sets aren’t comparable
as different as chalk and cheese.
But still we are compelled to try
because these monuments exist.
Our boundless curiosity
will not allow us to desist.
Saturday,24 April 2010
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poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
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Dog Soldier Lodge Affirmed
We believed in love, freedom, nobility;
to spiritual depths of our souls.
We believed in spiritual sacredness;
of our vibrant untamed land.
We rode our mustangs like wind tossed rolling thunder;
drumming within across prairie storm front;
as we rode wild free ranging prairie wind;
sweeping across an untamed unshod land.
We were so proud to live; as robust hunter-warriors;
to walk stand tall; sharing tribal life spirit.
So proud to live! So proud to die!
We fought frightened forked tongued white devil;
with every honourable fibre of our sacred being;
as they swept like vermin; despoiling stealing violating;
great beauty of a spiritual primeval land.
As Dog Soldier Warriors; of entrusted sacred lodge;
we died as we lived; with respect spiritual nobility.
I remember drums beating beating beating....
as my tribe cast my sacred spirit free.
I remember ritual tribal drums beating;
as my people cast my shaman spirit free;
vanquishing suppressed pain of weeping wounds;
which had battle pierced bled profusely;
sustained in mesmeric dance of necessitated battle;
when trampled buffalo hide tepee; of venerated Great Spirit;
within my warrior hardened body; invincible in combat;
finally fell undefeated; before an ignoble enemy.
Defend ancestral hunting grounds; wearer of eagle feathered;
war bonnet; strike with medicine power; of eagle descending....
on prey; protect shaman warrior; brave deeds in battle worthy;
first to touch living fallen enemy in battle; in front of fighting.... notched decorated feathers tell your deeds; designate swift killing;
telling your fierce individual stories; scalping capturing....
enemy’s weapons shield proudly worn; how thunder on horseback
or foot; attacking fear you struck into veteran civil war enemies....
What remained of a once proud people; hostilities long bled;
cast my shaman spirit free; cleansing ceremony completing;
to roam restoring; releasing vitality; warrior leading retaliatory strikes;
be free in spiritual hunting ground; of earned nomadic nobility.
Until foretold time; descendant tribe; would seek; must seek;
wisdom of spirit world; to guide survivors in spiritual perpetuity.
Then search in sacred ritual circle ceremony; tribal knowledge proving;
for tribal lore; for primeval knowledge; for new found spirituality.
Guarded for time swept tribe; for time of great need;
by a shaman; by a newborn past ancestor; of awe inspiring ability.
We worshipped; in peace in war; wisdom of Great Spirit.
We worshipped life. We worshipped our land. In perpetuity.
poem by Terence George Craddock
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