THE GENESIS OF MY AWARENESS
1 In the beginning,
before words or memories,
there was a Great Mystery:
a raging wildfire of bodies,
burning westward,
which breathed the spark of life
upon my body and my mind
2 And my mind was formless and void
Darkness was upon the face of my mind
And the second Great Mystery of My Awareness
moved over the face of my mind
3 And My Awareness said:
Let there be light
And some of the darkness was different
4 And I saw that this difference was light,
and that it was good
And my mind separated the light
from the darkness
5 And I called the light: certainty
And the darkness I called: fear
And in the evening,
when the light faded,
I became afraid
Because I did not know
if the light would return
And in the morning,
when the light returned,
I saw that my fear
was the shadow of my desire
And it was good
6 My first emotion on my first day
---
7 And I said:
Let there be an expanse
in the midst of my mind,
And let it separate my mind from my mind
And my mind made the expanse,
and separated my perceptions,
which were under the expanse,
from my imagination,
which was above the expanse
And it was so
8 And I called my imagination: self
And in the evening,
when the light faded,
I again became afraid
Yet there was still light in my imagination
And it was good
And I called
this light of my imagination: hope
9 My second emotion on my second day
---
10 And I said:
Let my imagination be gathered together
unto My Awareness
And dry land appeared
And it was so
11 And I called the dry land: earth
And the gathering together of the waters
I called: the seas
And I saw that it was good
12 And I looked closer at the earth,
and it had grass
And closer still,
I saw the herb
yielding seed
And closer still,
I saw the fruit tree,
yielding fruit after its kind,
whose seed is in itself
And I saw that looking closer was good
And I called this third emotion: wonder
13 And the evening and the morning
were the third day
of my third emotion
---
14 And I, looked closer, at the sky,
and there were lights in the sky
which gave light upon the Earth
and divided the day from the night
And I saw in them signs,
and seasons,
and days,
and years
And I was filled with wonder
15 And I looked closer at the lights,
and there were two Great Lights
The greater light to rule the day,
which I called: the Sun
And the lesser light to rule the night,
which I called: the Moon
And I looked closer at the night sky,
and there were smaller lights,
which I called: the stars
And I saw that it was good
16 And I happened upon
dark clouds blanketing the sky,
which shrouded the light
given upon the Earth
And I again became afraid
Because I did not know
if the fullness of the light would return
17 And looking closer,
I ascended into the mists
of the high mountains
And I rose above the clouds
And I saw that the sky
always gave light upon the Earth
And my fear subsided
And I became certain:
the light is always with me
And it was good
And I called this fourth emotion: love
18 And the evening and the morning
were the fourth day
of my fourth emotion
---
19 And I looked closer at the seas,
and there were abundant moving
creatures which had life:
great whales,
and fish that swim,
and strange creatures that move,
all after their kind
20 And I looked closer at the sky,
and there were birds,
which flew above the Earth,
in the open expanse far above
21 And I looked closer at the earth,
and the earth brought forth
abundant moving creatures
which had life:
cattle,
and creeping things,
and beasts of the earth,
all after their kind
22 And I blessed them all saying:
be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the waters in the seas,
and fill the sky far above,
and let all the living creatures
multiply upon the Earth
23 And I was filled with love for them
And I desired to be good unto them
And I desired to share goodness with them
And it was good
And I called this fifth emotion: grace
24 And the evening was
the fifth day
of my fifth emotion
---
25 And I happened upon still waters,
and in the reflection
looked closer at my own body
And I saw that my body must also be made
in the image of my kind,
after their likeness
26 And I said:
Let my imagination gather together
the image of my kind
And Self appeared
And it was so
27 And I looked closer at Self,
and I foresaw that nothing prevented
the dominion of Self,
over the creatures of the sea,
and over the birds of the air,
and over every living thing
which will live upon the Earth
28 And I blessed my reflected face
and I said unto Self:
be fruitful and multiply,
and replenish the Earth,
and hold it carefully
Watch over the creatures of the sea,
and the birds of the air,
and over every living thing
which lives upon the Earth
And I was filled with grace,
for Self
29 And I said unto Self:
Behold,
I have foreseen the finding
of every herb yielding seed,
which will be upon the face
of all the earth,
and every tree,
in which is the fruit
of a tree yielding seed
And I have foreseen the finding
of every creature of the sea,
and every bird of the air,
and every living thing
which will live upon the Earth
To you it shall be to choose:
sustenance or grace
And as all living things are nourished
by life,
It is for them to choose:
sustenance or grace
30 And the morning
was the fifth day
of my fifth emotion
---
31 And I looked closer at Self,
and I saw the spark of life,
kindling my mother and my father
And closer still,
I saw the kindling of their mothers
and their fathers
And closer still,
I saw the kindling of ancestor
upon uncountable ancestor
A raging wildfire of bodies,
burning westward,
whose unseen origin
was ever-beyond the gaze
of all eastward looking
The first Great Mystery
32 Thus was my body created in the image
of the first Great Mystery
And my mind in the image
of the second Great Mystery
of My Awareness
Mother and Father after their kind
33 And I saw all these things
were emanations of Great Mystery
And I was filled with Great Desire
to look closer
Yet looking closer at Great Mystery
yielded no certain
form
or cause
or purpose
34 And the Moon eclipsed the Sun
And the darkness danced with my desire
And mystery became a mirror for forms
And I was filled with Great Fear and Wonder
of not-knowing
35 And I wept
And I shook
And Behold, it was very good
And I called this sixth emotion: mystery
36 And the evening was
the sixth day
of my sixth emotion
---
37 And I was overcome by mystery
And I surrendered my mind to mystery
And I spoke stories unto Self,
and forms
and causes
and purpose,
which transmuted my Great Fear
And it was good
38 Thus was my imagination ready
for my emotions
and my perceptions
of my life to come
And My Awareness
the gentle host of them all
39 And the morning was
the sixth day
of my sixth emotion
---
40 And on the seventh day,
I ended my work-play
which I had begun
And I rested on the seventh day
from all my work-play
41 And I sat in silence
and I was filled with love
and wonder
and grace
and mystery
and fear
and hope
42 And my emotions
and my perceptions
transformed my imagination
And it was good
And I called this seventh emotion:
gratitude
43 And the evening and the morning
were the seventh day
of my seventh emotion
+ Contemplations
+ In the poem, who is “I”? The writer? A primordial first-man? “God”?
+ Can the “I” of a poem have multiple meanings?
+ How does the meaning of the poem change as different meanings of “I” are considered?
By considering and comparing different meanings, can even more meanings emerge?
+ If there are multiple meanings can they all simultaneously be possible?
Can a work be written to convey not just two or three or four meanings but aspire to be the worthy vessel of all possible meanings?
+ Is meaning felt like music or known and exact like a number?
+ Think of your earliest memories, who were you before your earliest memory?
+ Do you have memories before you knew words?
+ How do you know what came before your earliest memory?
+ Is there anything that can said for certain about what came before our earliest memory?
Artwork: “The Observer”, Silver Arrow Art, 2017 (source)
Artwork: “Hangmoon”, Alexander Komarov, 2016 (source)
Artwork: Zoomed selection of “The Lovers”, Remedios Varo, 1963 (source)
Artwork: Untitled, Female Pentimento (source)
very good!