John Moore: Unruly Harmony
1.
And the earth was born without form,
and void
And darkness was upon the face of the deep
and moved upon the face of the waters
Original condition
of each
and all
Once
now
always
never
And the void
gazing upon the face of the deep
recognising its reflection
upon the face of the waters
smiled
and gave birth to the word…
…the word
born(e)
on the breath
that breathes
life and substance
into the world
And thus began
the beginningless beginning:
in the beginning was the word
and the word was a seed
enfolded in the embrace of the void
and the seed took root
and grew and blossomed and died
and scatered its seed
far and wide
And in the infinite void
there bloomed
a land of lush vegetation
rich in meaning
In eternal delight
exultant energy
danced scintillant
over the surface
of the deep
And the multiform dancers
in all their teeming multiplicity,
knowing their true names,
wheeled around
in the joyful round dance
But wisdom,
knowing the true names
of each and every one,
sought to know the unknowable
and hence the unnameable,
Her curiosity baffled,
abandoning the true self,
she strove to imitate
the inimitable
primal creativity,
but cloaked in error
she birthed
an abortion, a monster,
a single thought
a thought of singularity
a meaningless word
And from this word
there shot forth
horns, thorns
sharp spines
and clawed tentacles
which bound with briars
all joys and desires
trains of thought
chains of ideas
carried humanity away
thrust it forth
beyond the void
into a land of desolation
division and separation
enslavement and misery
a land ruled by power and order
by a blind god
whose sightless orbs
forever pitlessly gaze
at the empty pages
of the great book of law and judgement
and whose brazen voice
bellows commands
and whispers words
of good and evil,
sowing seeds of doubt and confusion
that swarm like weeds
and choke the mind
with thought
Lost in thought
distracted and deluded
divided by discrimination
ensnared by attachment
the wandering mind of humanity
unmindful
abstracted
oblivious
goes astray
amid the trackless wastes,
condemned to whore after strange gods
and bow down before terrible demons
in the howling wilderness,
the domain of powers and dominions
And the blind god
the cosmic tyrant
himself but a thought
exulted to see
humanity
in thrall to thought
in bondage to power
But bloated with pride
mired in error
steeped in pomp
the despot of boundless ignorance
darkly descried
in the mid-forged manacles
a means to manufacture
a vast empire of materiality
Snared in the entanglements of
right and wrong
self and other
grasping and rejecting
humanity forgot its original condition
its original face
And over this featureless visage
the blind god
fitted a mask
of his own fashioning
and recreated humanity
in his own image
and let them have domain
over every living thing
and bade them
be fruitful
and multiply
and subdue the earth
and all its peoples
and all it contains,
and set all to toiling
and let their labours increase
by day and by night
Only thus may the mighty engines (the words of the blind god
of production and destruction
unleash their heavenly powers
and infernal energies
Cry havoc! and let loose
the forces of darkness
upon the world
the forces hidden
confined
within the mystery of mysteries:
the living abstraction
within whose bowels you shall live
and whose deathly empire
your labours shall build
and whose enemies
you shall slay
without mercy
until the final victory
of death over life
is won
and my dominion
will be complete
Each word was a hammer blow
nailing humanity to the tree of life,
but coiled around the tree trunk
the wise counsellor
- unseen and unknown by the blind god -
laughed aloud at such ignorance,
and suffused with light
spoke words of prophecy
from the depths of heart wisdom
and foretold
the liberation of all
by twirling a flower
between finger and thumb
2.
(A single thought
of the wandering mind
is the root
of birth and death
in this world.
Just don't have
a single thought
and you'll get rid
of the root
of birth and death
(Mazu
An expedient, then:
a poetic expedient
since words
are not enough
and yet too much
a poor expedient
since once
one starts
thinking
about it
one misses
it
Abandon either/or
Realise both/neither
(You must know
that which has
no birth or death
right in the midst of
birth and death
(Foyan
Me, for instance:
both
real and unreal
yet neither
real nor unreal
Or power:
both
omnipotent and impotent
yet neither
omnipotent nor impotent
Or revolution:
both
everywhere and nowhere
yet neither
everywhere nor nowhere
Realise the unrealisable
moment by moment
Revolution in practice:
(Walk
stand
sit
and recline
all day long
without ever
walking
standing
sitting
or reclining
(Foyan
Liberation achieved
when hungry eat
when tired sleep
Either/or
subsumed within
Both/neither
Both/neither
the revolutionary principle
the guiding principle of revolution
realised at every instant
in the everyday practice
of daily life
a return
from a journey never undertaken
to the sourceless source
yet neither
omnipotent nor impotent
Or revolutionary.
Published in Green Anarchist #66, Spring 2002
