TO FERLINGHETTI
The
forest fires of the Kali Yuga
about
to consume us
and
Smokey the Bear
in
his broad Park Rangers hat
in
his raging fury
to
save planet earth
still
swings his vajra-shovel
to
douse the fires of greed and war
–Time Of
Useful Consciousness, IX
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence,
I think Smokey’s hangin’ out
down
at the Disney lot
and
ain’t gonna be no help to us
in
the Age of the Bad Ace
Age
of the demon
here
on Apocalypse Field
in
the global arena of consciousness
on
the charred and cindery planet earth
You
also wrote – in Poetry As Insurgent Art
–
in
Populist Manifesto:
Time now to open your
mouths
with a new open speech…
Where are Whitman’s wild
children,
where the great voices
speaking out
with a sense of
sweetness and sublimity,
where the great new
vision,
the great world-view,
the high prophetic song
of the immense earth
and all that sings in it
And our relation to it
Neither
will Walt come to our aid
nor
what wild children may have risen
in
his line, for poems of buffalo strength and terrible
eyes
are
no match for what casts the shadow of Mordor
in
our time
and
the singer of himself is now bellowing
in
the bardos of the damned
for
dissing “the high prophetic song”
of
the Prophet
–
of whom to speak
in
this dark soul dark age
is
to elicit venom
from
the sting of death –
so
his spirit ought not be summoned
to
quicken our art
being
unable to dispel the heart of the Shadow
There
is only one spirit able
to
stand in the storm of fury
(satanic
fury it is)
and
not be overwhelmed
a
spirit unafraid of death
(knowing
to die is to live
and
after the resurrection
be
rejoined to the body
forever
glorious and free of death)
In
the dark shadow storming
globe
wonderland made hell
those
Light-Bearers who speak forth
whose
Christ-filled hearts shine forth
the
truth of what is
and
is to come
calling
multitudes into the Ark
of
His saving love and power
as
the waters of death slowly rise
These
do so knowing they go against the grain
of
the world, of the Babylonian System of empire
of
wealth of money of gold of love of what it can buy
of
pleasure of entertainment of technology’s joys
of
fantasy’s science fiction’s sword and sorcery’s epics
anything
to drown out the noise and horror of the
shadow
of
the boredom of living in the shadow of him
who
cast Death-Spell into the deeps of being
(but
we let him in)
so
we have no river of life flowing within
to
illumine all our being and banish death and evil
no
river of joy sparkling streams of shalom
–
well-being and inner glory to the nth.
The high prophetic song is
the ancient one
we
sing it without fear of the killer
the
suppressor the censor the jailor the strong-arm
the
well-poisoner of the mind
thug
who likes to break bones and kick the life
out
of people rape at will
–
without fear we sing
The high prophetic song is
the one who shows
the
darkness will get darker
before
the end of Kali Yuga, the Sanskrit
Age
of the Bad Ace, the rise of that one
long
foretold would have his evil day
so
to crucible-clean the gold
a
fiery cleansing off of dross
the
self-love, self-aggrandizing, self-seeking
so
the Light-Bearers would be like their chief
Jesus
Himself
at
least when the cleansing is done
and
the glorified body given
So
we see a deepening of the dark shadow
the
vision of Tolkien called Mordor
but
we call (the one who should not be
named) Satan
and
his bane influence, where evil is called good
and
good evil, where the righteous are punished
and
the wicked rewarded
And
there is more
to
the high prophetic song
the
great world-view
the
great new vision,
for
the headquarters nation
of
Empire Babylon
shall
be visited with famine
with
pestilence, with death
riots
of the starving, the maddened
with
despair and rage
the
government strong in martial law
raving
citizens slaughtered
in
their rampaging hordes
the
electric grid down
money
down
comforts
down
food
delivery down
water
(clean water) down
and
the great whore empire who seduced the nations
or
intimidated them
with
the prospect of money
or
muscle
by
whose sorceries were all nations deceived
our
psychedelic drugs of Woodstock
and
the sixties and seventies
the
potions from grass to acid, dust to meth
scattered
across the world in a psychic blast
stronger
than nuclear blast
energy
which blew minds of rational thought
to
make way for something darker
for
a duende not human
and
full of power
and
the nations said
we
see the source of power now
it
is not from God
for
we are the gods
it
is from us
as
we realize the great goodness within
and
the power within
and
the nations fell prey
to
strong delusion
and
the dwindling Light-Bearers shone
till
the new laws said they must be extinguished
and
many were, their houses of light emptied
and
destroyed
This
nation – so it is Apocalypse-written – will in one
hour
go
up in smoke in a vast desolation
such
that those at sea who sought to trade
stayed
afar off for fear of her torment
nuke
smoke arising for the world to see
the
remaining world then summoned to attention
to
do good? No, to finish the job the final
solution
of
the lovers of Jesus, who would not stand down
from
saying the Law of His God is to be obeyed
and
His mercy availed of
–
given at such great cost
for
love
of
the lost
those
who did not keep the Law, the great Ten
but
desired forgiveness
and
while many came to seek Christ’s rest and peace
(for
He yet lives to dispense them from the throne of Heaven)
even
more were outraged to hear from that Law
the
penalty of rebellion against Heaven’s King
and
who then world-wide executed the Great Silencing.
When
this shall be almost accomplished
guess
who will show up
as
lightning shines across the heavens
from
one end to the other?
None
other than the Son of God come
to
avenge His people
whose
blood cried from the ground
against
the slayers
This
the great new vision, Lawrence,
though
it is old, ancient, long foretold
yet
anew given to every generation
and
the word of mercy to every nation.
Smokey
won’t cut it, nor Walt
only
the Warrior who can stand
against
the armies of the Dog
with
power to parry nuclear spears
deflect
their force and heat
unscathed
undaunted
at
all the earth’s armies can hurl His way
You
gotta love Him
or
hate Him
no
middle ground.
