BARDO II

Akshobhya sits on the elephant throne,
emitting a brilliant white light. And I find
That I cannot accept this white light alone.
What am I seeing? What is being shown?
I see what I know - the dull light of the sign.

One way I know to pass this obstruction
Say what we know. I'm calling out: Brother,
Standing alone, we come to destruction.
Can we not talk, t'exchange instruction?
All we can do is speak to each other.

"📱"

"📱"

One sec, I have to take this.

✋📞

🗣📱

Hello?
Hey.
...
Yeah.
Yeah.

One sec.

Alright, listen carefully.

Last week you said the green light was stronger
Than it had been. The water's a slaw.
Limestone and chalk. Smells of ammonia.
Dead reeds are forming a layer of straw.

We know for sure that green means rebirth in
the animal realms. That's where you're to go.
Went to the library; I did some reading.
Here's my advice, the best that I know.

One: All the reeds and the straw indicate
your site of rebirth is the mouth of the Nile.
The limestone and chalk, the shell of the egg.
The crocodile born, a child of scutate.

Two: To remember, plug up your nostrils.
Cover your mouth. The water of Lethe,
the sharp shaking shock in which you will plunge.
Colder than ice n'darker than deep sea.

Don't let it in. Your lungs will be burning.
I say this now. You will try. You will fail.
But each moment you try, the sooner recalled
what you will forget in garments of scale.

Three: In the meantime, there will be hot sand.
Laying yourself on Egyptian beaches.
The gharial lays at least forty-four eggs.
Piper and plover pick out the leeches.

We don't leave our bodies so easily. But,
What listens remains. Perhaps it's the mind.
And at the passing of Kali Yuga,
when the four pillars resume standing tall,
we will meet again for coffee sometime.
Good luck. I love you.