The Intervention Rhapsody In Three Movements

     1

Tender moments and fragrant wildflowers
    will not be easily collected.
Easter bonnets and fathers' blessings and homemade jam
     have all but disappeared.
Prayer beads and healing potions and love poems
      are hard to come by these days.

The open hand and the starved soul
    remain as empty as a vacant sky without a moon.

Who gave us such things
    and what caused them to fade away one by one,
      leaving this bitter yearning embedded in our heart,

   This archival memory of things, feelings and beliefs,
       perhaps never actually seen,
         never personally felt,
           never consciously believed,
     Yet, stirring up the sediment at the very depth of our soul
          into a murky film of loss and longing
            that will not be filtered out, will not be purged.


     2

Love, Mercy, Kindness and Compassion,
    a sense of wonder and of gratitude,
these are just some of the multi-hued particles,
    whirling and twirling in that stew of lost virtues
      there at the bottom of our hollow soul.

To be condemned to chase imaginary tokens
    of that which we lack most but cannot name,
To peer helplessly into the kaleidoscope
     of our ancient and fragmented dreams,
To have been gutted like the early morning catch
      of all that is noble and god-like within us -

- This, my friends, is what defines us now.


     3

A New Age has been proclaimed, once again,
    and with it  new diminishments:

As the polar icecaps are melting
    so is our humanity toward ourselves and toward all of creation.

We  must  put  a  stop  to  this  now
     if only by the Power of our own Intervention:


Step into your most secluded chamber
    and shut out the world around you.

Strip off your clothes, peel back your skin, pry open your ribcage
     and reach for your heart, that most sacred of vessels.

Come face-to-face with the yearning
   that throbs with each pulse-beat
and you will gain access to that dimension of your being,
    where your wounded soul resides.

Recognize and inventory all that has been squandered away and lost
  and,
   reaching deep into the well of ancestral wisdom,
     take pains to retrieve it.

And by so doing, your soul will mend and become whole again.

Reclaim the dignity and the abundant gifts
    that were put into the cradle of mankind,
      but have been corrupted by centuries of greed, warmongering and hate.

Rekindle the good in yourself, the good in man,
   with the flame of your passion.

Rebirth your soul
    and you will become a guardian against
      the systematic devaluation of the human spirit
        practiced by the ruling class.

Rehabilitate the compassion in your heart
    and be a mentor to those who walk with you now
       and to others who will follow behind.


And always,  always  search out the tender moments

    and the fragrant wildflowers


along the way.

©Ana Elsner