The Portal

photo by grassrootsmsw

“What Jung called 'the moral obligation' to live out and to express what one has learned in the descent or ascent to the wild Self. This moral obligation he speaks of means to live what we perceive, be it found in the psychic Elysian fields, the isles of the dead, the bone deserts of the psyche, the face of the mountain, the rock of the sea, the lush underworld - anyplace where La Que Sabe breathes upon us, changing us. Our work is to show we have been breathed upon - to show it, give it out, sing it out, to live out in the topside world what we have received through our sudden knowings, from body, from dreams and journeys of all sorts.”
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Entering into the "Casino:"
a portal into
the wild, unloved forest that feels barren.
Where neglected tree branches are
knobby, crooked, and sharp.

There is no sense of time,
or reality.
The original truth of evolution
is forsaken and relinquished.
Neglect has exposed the blemishes.

It is an eco-system of it's own;
structured in an orderly way,
but with a stirring turmoil,
beneath the dying leaves,
that have fallen from its thirsty trees.

It has been forgotten,
thus, it forgets...
how to grow, blossom, and flourish.
Like a human muscle,
that memorizes pain,
and requires consistent nurturing to heal.

There is a worthy journey
to be found here.
Sunlight, warmly bottles its light
through the dessicated branches,
as a compassionate gentle rain falls.

The drizzlings of hope, belief, and determination
fall and saturate the forest;
slowly, and with patience.
The perseverence of compassion,
vibrates and changes the landscape.

Bright green leaves,
begin to shoot from the base and branches of the trees.
The dead branches fall,
to the earth below,
creating healthy mulch for the new born trees.

A new portal to beauty and discovery
opens.
The terrain and topography
has transformed.
The once camouflaged splendor,
is revealed.

It asks
that we enter,
with potency and openness.
Trusting that we will see,
and believe,
in the purpose and wisdom
of walking the unpredictable,
enlightening
path.

-grassrootsmsw