| Inspiration and The Aftermath |
This is a poem, not a lyric. I hope nobody minds. I wanted to share it with you. When I was fourteen years old, I had an incredible, life-changing experience. I won't go into it the nature of that experience, other than to refer to it as a 'night of inspiration'. Four years later, when I was eighteen, I wrote this poem, reflecting on that night of inspiration, and the aftermath . . .
THE AFTERMATH
I live within the moments
That flicker though you’re conscious
As an ever-present goal
At once achieved and lost
In the complex interaction
Of awareness and distraction
That is woven through the fabric
Of your thoughts
For I have traveled distant stars
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there
And lost in circumspect
I have cast direction
Around the misdirected masses
Through the hope of only shadows
I have lingered in the twilight of a slowly fading sun
Divided by illusion and the night
And I have traveled faster than the speed of my appearance
To bathe in velvet waters of an ocean gone beyond
Bits of my alluring madness turn your head
And you gaze into my eyes to see reflections of the skies . . .
But just reflections
For I have heard the secrets
That are whispered by the wind
And witnessed beauty greater
Than the incandescent aura
Of the secrets closely guarded
By the golden walls of gods
I have crossed the infinite universe
The realm of time and space
And passed beyond its boundary
Into the unknown chasm
Void of change and reason
That lies beneath the endless web
Of crystal clear creation
THE AFTERMATH
I live within the moments
That flicker though you’re conscious
As an ever-present goal
At once achieved and lost
In the complex interaction
Of awareness and distraction
That is woven through the fabric
Of your thoughts
For I have traveled distant stars
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there
And lost in circumspect
I have cast direction
Around the misdirected masses
Through the hope of only shadows
I have lingered in the twilight of a slowly fading sun
Divided by illusion and the night
And I have traveled faster than the speed of my appearance
To bathe in velvet waters of an ocean gone beyond
Bits of my alluring madness turn your head
And you gaze into my eyes to see reflections of the skies . . .
But just reflections
For I have heard the secrets
That are whispered by the wind
And witnessed beauty greater
Than the incandescent aura
Of the secrets closely guarded
By the golden walls of gods
I have crossed the infinite universe
The realm of time and space
And passed beyond its boundary
Into the unknown chasm
Void of change and reason
That lies beneath the endless web
Of crystal clear creation
14 is a bit young to start taking LSD, would you say?
The first verse flows so wonderfully!
I don't quite follow this line :
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
But I love this one :
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there
And to traveled faster than the speed of my appearance, wow, so simple but says it so well.
So you managed to sustain the inspiration for 4 years? How long did it take to write?
What I mean is, Did it come out in one rush of moments, or did you take time to 'work it out'?
It is a truly inspirational poem.
The first verse flows so wonderfully!
I don't quite follow this line :
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
But I love this one :
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there
And to traveled faster than the speed of my appearance, wow, so simple but says it so well.
So you managed to sustain the inspiration for 4 years? How long did it take to write?
What I mean is, Did it come out in one rush of moments, or did you take time to 'work it out'?
It is a truly inspirational poem.
| the truth, and nothing but the truth |
The inspiration was not induced by LSD. It has lasted my whole life, 37 years so far, and counting - but for the strength of it, it could have been last night. It was the birth of my personal perceptions that are evident in everything I believe, and everything I write.
I wrote it all at once, in a quiet reflective state - not in a flash of poetic inpiration. It weighed on me one night, and I wrote it to get it off my chest. Writing is a cathartic process for me. I know it's pretty obscure to you, but to me it is a simple narrative. I wrote it as easily as I am writing this.
It is as relevant to my life today as it was at 18.
I wrote it all at once, in a quiet reflective state - not in a flash of poetic inpiration. It weighed on me one night, and I wrote it to get it off my chest. Writing is a cathartic process for me. I know it's pretty obscure to you, but to me it is a simple narrative. I wrote it as easily as I am writing this.
It is as relevant to my life today as it was at 18.
I suppose it would be true today as it is then.
The rest of your life is the aftermath of your experience!
I was lying in bed one night when I was about 19 years old, as I was lying there I had a thought in my head and that was "What is God then?" just as I had that thought the DJ on the late night radio just seamed to step inside my head and said "Obscure!, That's what it is, Obscure!"
One might not be able to focus fully on the obscure but by trying one will focus on other things as we 'zoom in'
The rest of your life is the aftermath of your experience!
I was lying in bed one night when I was about 19 years old, as I was lying there I had a thought in my head and that was "What is God then?" just as I had that thought the DJ on the late night radio just seamed to step inside my head and said "Obscure!, That's what it is, Obscure!"
One might not be able to focus fully on the obscure but by trying one will focus on other things as we 'zoom in'
| not my whole life |
It's just one experience, but it has had a stong and lasting influence. Of course I have had many other experiences and influences. Life goes on, and you should never look back at A moment, and think if it as THE moment. When you do you are living in the past.
That is very true: "you should never look back at A moment, and think if it as THE moment. When you do you are living in the past."
those who are experiencing life intensely often tread into that pit, and fall: we see many rock artists committing the "ultimate crime" - that of suicide, for they believe life will never become any better than it has been moments ago, and see only a spiral steeply sloping downwards...
as to the experience you had at that time - for whatever reason, I can relate - you have found answers (you "transcended"), and these discoveries translate into the ultimate sensations as you describe them to observers, in an attempt to convince them that you have found your answers. Superlatives: more than humanly / naturally imaginable, just like the answers [observer] doesn't have, so [/go figure]. Unfortunately, as it goes, only those who are aware can recognize, and those who cannot will misinterpret, and talk of god and miracles where there is nothing which cannot be rationally explained...
so far from what I'm reading. I truly enjoyed this poem. I think it is very strong.
Peace.
PX
those who are experiencing life intensely often tread into that pit, and fall: we see many rock artists committing the "ultimate crime" - that of suicide, for they believe life will never become any better than it has been moments ago, and see only a spiral steeply sloping downwards...
as to the experience you had at that time - for whatever reason, I can relate - you have found answers (you "transcended"), and these discoveries translate into the ultimate sensations as you describe them to observers, in an attempt to convince them that you have found your answers. Superlatives: more than humanly / naturally imaginable, just like the answers [observer] doesn't have, so [/go figure]. Unfortunately, as it goes, only those who are aware can recognize, and those who cannot will misinterpret, and talk of god and miracles where there is nothing which cannot be rationally explained...
so far from what I'm reading. I truly enjoyed this poem. I think it is very strong.
Peace.
PX
| that defining moment? |
Getting even further off the subject, this time to American NCAA (college level) football. The University of Texas won the national championship last year - a HUGE deal in the US. About five minutes into their locker-room celebration, their coach asked for everyones attetion. He then proceeded to warn and encourage his young champions not to make this moment the high point of their lives, but to move forward and make something worthwile of themselves. What a wonderful perspective to get from your coach! What a service he performed for them.
Mmm! very nicely woven into the thread! 
Some threads just get so dam interesting, there's way too much going on here!
I might just take it slow!,
I do think simon that 'The rest of your life is the aftermath of your experience!', because its like day and night, being awake and dreaming or moments of enlightenment and moments of simply being.
The one influences the other directly, what you dream tonight you take into tomorrow, what you do tomorrow influences what you dream the next night. We forget the continuum of time and the duration of life a lot of the time when speaking about spiritual experiences.
So your experience at 14 has followed you and influenced your every step along the way, just as it should when the story is told.
I think that for those who live in the past and the future their moment should just fall into place.
And this is my moment I go to bed, its 5 in the morning. A well its Christmas!
I'll be back!
Some threads just get so dam interesting, there's way too much going on here!
I might just take it slow!,
I do think simon that 'The rest of your life is the aftermath of your experience!', because its like day and night, being awake and dreaming or moments of enlightenment and moments of simply being.
The one influences the other directly, what you dream tonight you take into tomorrow, what you do tomorrow influences what you dream the next night. We forget the continuum of time and the duration of life a lot of the time when speaking about spiritual experiences.
So your experience at 14 has followed you and influenced your every step along the way, just as it should when the story is told.
I think that for those who live in the past and the future their moment should just fall into place.
And this is my moment I go to bed, its 5 in the morning. A well its Christmas!
I'll be back!
| responses |
Kings said,
"I don't quite follow this line :
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
"But I love this one :
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there"
The lines are both part of a single sentence. Read it as prose:
"For I have traveled distant stars, compelling planets altered cast along my wake - prevailing misty miles of morning here and there."
Does that help?
PuppetXeno said,
"...you have found answers (you "transcended"), and these discoveries translate into the ultimate sensations as you describe them to observers, in an attempt to convince them that you have found your answers. Superlatives: more than humanly / naturally imaginable..."
Actually, I have done closer to the opposite. I found many things that night, but I found no answers - only infinite possibilities (and I don't mean millions or billions, I mean infinite). I have not translated discoveries into a description of ultimate sensations, but rather have transcribed incredible experience that was more than humanly / naturally imaginable, into relatively modest descriptions for the purpose of making them easier to grasp.
Comparing my actual experiece to the descriptions in this piece is like comparing an iceburg to an ice cube. But I tried to capture the essence of it, and I tried to put it into the context of reconciling what I experienced, with a world of people who I could never begin to convey those experiences to, or their meaning:
"And lost in circumspect
I have cast direction
Around the misdirected masses
Throught he hope of only shadows"
Thank you both for your comments.
"I don't quite follow this line :
Compelling planets altered cast along my wake
"But I love this one :
Prevailing misty miles of morning here and there"
The lines are both part of a single sentence. Read it as prose:
"For I have traveled distant stars, compelling planets altered cast along my wake - prevailing misty miles of morning here and there."
Does that help?
PuppetXeno said,
"...you have found answers (you "transcended"), and these discoveries translate into the ultimate sensations as you describe them to observers, in an attempt to convince them that you have found your answers. Superlatives: more than humanly / naturally imaginable..."
Actually, I have done closer to the opposite. I found many things that night, but I found no answers - only infinite possibilities (and I don't mean millions or billions, I mean infinite). I have not translated discoveries into a description of ultimate sensations, but rather have transcribed incredible experience that was more than humanly / naturally imaginable, into relatively modest descriptions for the purpose of making them easier to grasp.
Comparing my actual experiece to the descriptions in this piece is like comparing an iceburg to an ice cube. But I tried to capture the essence of it, and I tried to put it into the context of reconciling what I experienced, with a world of people who I could never begin to convey those experiences to, or their meaning:
"And lost in circumspect
I have cast direction
Around the misdirected masses
Throught he hope of only shadows"
Thank you both for your comments.
| re: responses |
Simon wrote…
PuppetXeno said,
"...you have found answers (you "transcended"), and these discoveries translate into the ultimate sensations as you describe them to observers, in an attempt to convince them that you have found your answers. Superlatives: more than humanly / naturally imaginable..."
Actually, I have done closer to the opposite. I found many things that night, but I found no answers - only infinite possibilities (and I don't mean millions or billions, I mean infinite). I have not translated discoveries into a description of ultimate sensations, but rather have transcribed incredible experience that was more than humanly / naturally imaginable, into relatively modest descriptions for the purpose of making them easier to grasp.
Comparing my actual experiece to the descriptions in this piece is like comparing an iceburg to an ice cube. But I tried to capture the essence of it, and I tried to put it into the context of reconciling what I experienced, with a world of people who I could never begin to convey those experiences to, or their meaning:
"And lost in circumspect
I have cast direction
Around the misdirected masses
Throught he hope of only shadows"
Well, with "transcendence" I mean reaching a higher level of awareness - discovering the limitlessness of life, the universe, and everything - in other words: infiniteness of possibilities... or: infinite possibilities.
That is, btw, the key to having answers to any question in life. Since infinite possibities rule out the existance of true meanings and absolute answers, an answer can be readied to any question (of the open type, mostly) as long as the answer is fitting it's relative purpose (hence the "you have found your answers")
anyway - I still think you were trying to explain a similar type experience, I just described it from an inversed point of view... Probably.
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