[austintorn@aol.com]

(Part 6)

Back in Hawaii, in 1970, a rainbow was about to appear, something that was truly only in the eye of the beholder, for it appeared only where it was for each particular person:

Toward the end of a sunny day,
A storm came and washed away,
And the sunset clouds, being glad,
Held a party for the returning lad.

The sun then peeked, and soft shone
Into the mist of the departing squall,
Its light split into particolors lone,
Separating, each from the ALL—

A bouquet of colored rays
Swirled into sight,
And promised good weather
For the rest of the night.

The rainbow lit up the east,
As long we attended the feast
Of both the east and the west,
Till into darkness we descended blest.

The stars guided our homeward flight
By shining their jeweled lights
Of ruby, emerald, and sapphire
In living colors of blazing fire.

"Strange," she said. "I felt as if I was experiencing the rainbow for the first time."

"Perhaps you were," I replied, unknowing of Nobody at that time, but now I realize that I had seen him whizzing by on his way to the CBR and the butterflies on the edge of forever, so I wrote:

Some may ask of Life: How does one find love?
Life says, Be still! Don’t look far or above;
Stop—let love’s butterfly alight on you,
For that’s the touch that romance is made of.

The rose is the flower that the bee cruises,
Meeting there the butterfly that love chooses;
They unfold the petals of the blossom,
And drink the nectar of love’s sweet juices.

The scent of plumeria perfumed the night airs ever so more intensely, drenching us in its fragrance as we went to sleep to enjoy our new all-night cable channel of dreams.

The mountain top granted serenity in a crazy world, but Okinawa soon called for an Army supply system update and so I picked up the tapes and 2 first class tickets, one for me and one for the tapes to have their own seat, for I could never let them out of my sight for even a millisecond. I had taken a course in Security and Military Intelligence and been granted a high level clearance and had to carry a pistol. Of course, I even had to take the computer tapes to the bathroom with me, washing them and my hands as well.

So we put the tapes in the overhead storage bin as wonder-girl settled in to the seat next to mine.

During the flight I read a book on anti-gravity—I couldn’t put it down! I asked my companion, "What’s holding this airplane up?", for she was good in science.

"A wing and a prayer," she replied.

— Okinawa —

I became inspired while witting under a Banyan tree, for some reasons that Nobody knows:

Going with the Flow

All things arise, and away they all go,
For life’s impermanent and volatile.
Flow and change are normal features of life—
Suffering starts when you resist the flow.

Never struggle against the way things are,
But rather become the way that things are.
When you give yourself to the moving whole,
Natural currents will carry you quite far.

My spirit flows from moment to moment,
Connecting and savoring life’s events,
Drinking-in the sounds, currents, textures, scents,
And subtle delights—for I’m self-content.

We did not create ourselves, of course
We’re an expression of some deeper force.
Why rein it in or try to control it?
It comes from beyond—so, flow with the force!

To those of you who ignore life’s romance:
Ignorance, like shadow, has no substance.
The shade is removed by the light within;
Feel the rhythm of the universal dance!

Listen to your inner creative source—
The power is in you to set the course.
Don’t let your ego get in the way—
Success will then this method reinforce.

Experience the oneness of everything,
As manifested in ways of being.
Become aware of interrelations
It’s a nonintellectual happening!

I could feel something had changed in me—and in the world. Some inexplicable ecstasy had arrived was moving in. Life was somehow… richer, clearer.

I gave thanks to Nobody in particular.