Where a man is afraid
a cat walks calmly
up high on a ledge

the temple is full of cats
the worshipers bow their heads
the soul Ra meeting Osiris
it is the cat by the Persea
which cuts the head off
the serpent of darkness

One God embraces another
and another springs into being
like a hawk it flys
a disk upon it's head
a white crow fly's
it has a human head

the dead will rise
whispers the crow
but the cat crouches and stares
and thinks of nothing
but what is directly before it

As you know when Isis lost her Osiris
she wandered Egypt 
one day she came upon a young girl
by the river lost in a dream
have you seen him? asked Isis
have you lost someone too?
asked the girl

it was here only yesterday
and so light was his heart
how I thought he would stay
and now gone like a day is gone
how lightly death can come knocking

first a face, then like a picture, then just a dream
finally just like the wind
how lightly he held my hand
just like the shadows
just like the clouds in the sky
now I always dream of him
I can not stop my longing
empty like a shell

His body has been cut up in pieces
said Isis
I can find all the pieces and restore him

the girl smiled and said
my lost love is lost in the desert
his body is whole but it is cold
and his memory drinks my tears
and I long to join him there in the cold

beloved he is now a wish
build a great temple
cry and decorate with gold
and dream of an empty resurrection
like a slave dreams of wings

Isis lost her precious Osiris to death
and she cried bitterly
and she searched the dry cold desert
for this lost love that destroyed her heart
each and all shall know this sadness
each and all

you say you see no reason
and yet there is reason for all things
and nothing without a reason
all things belong to all other things
we are only one pulse
all created things originate from this one thing
and yet you say you see no reason

only the warrior of the desert can know love
the fleeting morning mist on the Nile
the smile of skull and bone
as certain as day and night
love is like space -it will abide

the lion sees one and sees all
and this heart stripped bare to the nerve
reduces the lion to a lost kitten
all living things must tremble
like new born things
before the solar King and Queen
our wounds are our greatest blessing

What forms do these prayers take
In a city full of such disdain?
One hundred prostrations to the Buddha  every morning
A cup of hot tea
Her lips are like a garden in a midnight moon
Her loving embrace like a parade
Empty arms tremble and the night is only young
Have you felt the pain of loss or are you still not dead?
Only the most notorious traitors know the shame
Of lying lonely while the millions scream
I hold a skeleton key and a book full of childish rhymes
And talk only to God and the wind
Surrounded by a canyon of books
My only ambition is music
And to dream

Did you know the mother of Alchemy
was the sister of Moses?
Egyptian Mary transforming the sun
in her bucket was a rainbow and a wheel
her wings of life flying like a sea gull
this symphony of rain and earth
the moon is a baker and bread is the dream
mercury is the teller of stories and the planter of seeds
venus the queen of love rules supreme
the sun is the master from which we all derive
mars is the hope of a drunken brooding soldier
jupiter laughs and opens a book of symbols
saturn keeps watch upon the gate and the door
God makes a true physician but not without pain
common men too find themselves in need
good songs and stories must be sung and told
for this dreamer to awaken

is your heart green like the green lion?
is your first substance the love of God?
do you hear the whispers of heaven?

a man in the Egyptian desert mouth dry
on his back the clay jar filled with papyrus
a red stain on his fore head
sweat dripping down his brow
longing for the cool air of the night
dreaming of flying free from his body
as if he were a black bird

the great bird of paradise spreads its wings
to him his heart is with the cows and horses
to him his love is Anubis the dog
or the feline reclined on the masters throne

is your voice briming over with joy?
is the color of your dreams white or black?
do you bend with the wind
or do you break like a brittle reed?

the man is a slave who rubbed the sand on the stone
day in day out
he polished the granite untill his shoulder ached and swelled
he felt the blows of the masters cane
and he disappeared inside a dream
now the jar upon his back like a babies crib
he hauls words into the future