In the First Year of the Earth Ascendant

In the First Year of the Earth Ascendant

For in the south a whirlwind
soon was televised
and so it came to be
well-known. We looked upon
that ordinary world
with higher definition
and comprehended visions
terrible but clear.
The arctic ice was swimming
in a demitasse
of narrow righteousness.
Dust storms spread beyond
the wheels of desert lands
and sped on interstates
more expeditiously than
political indictments.
And in the underthings
of deep blue sea, the Gulf Stream
disappeared to stroll
the greater wilderness
for forty days and forty
seasons while the temples
of all western nations
sold assurances
they blessed with holy oil.
And lo we praised the presence
of the coming storm,
the light of clarity,
true energy of earth,
defender of the latest
equilibrium
and resurrection of
the atmosphere made truly
physical and here.

~Son Rivers 2005

Today's Bunch of Footnotes

definition; Sierra Magazine: Year One; "Much of that northern ice has turned to water. The deserts have grown. And now parts of the Gulf Coast have sunk beneath the sea. It's a new, less friendly world, and it needs its own numbering system. So let Katrina mark Year One of our new calendar, the start of an age in which the physical world has flipped from sure and secure to volatile and unhinged." (link via Gristmill)

resurrection; Spirit Blooms: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, by Jean-Yves Leloup; "Though brief and fragmented, this is powerful reading for anyone who, like me, has a problem believing in a physical resurrection or wants to learn more about the relationship of Mary Magdalene to Jesus. This gospel presents Mary as closer to her Teacher than is usually evident in the New Testament (in my admittedly limited experience of it). It also suggests that her vision of the resurrected Jesus, who is often referred to in this gospel as the Teacher, was of a more spiritual than physical nature."