In 2005 I was taken on an amazing trip to the desert by my mentor, friend and gracious host, James Marais. We travelled great distances and deliberated life, death, life after death, quantum physics and electricity, albeit sometimes with the aid of great quantities of Old Brown Sherry, to keep our brains from freezing in the desert's harsh night air. On one of our peregrinations we came across this Adenia Pechuellii. It is a medicinal plant that suffers greatly so that others can live, and reminded me of the next two poems.
In the Desert - (Stephen Crane 1871-1900)
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter – bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart"
--------oo0oo----------
The heart is mute (Philip de Bruyn)
The heart is mute, it has no voice.
In pain its speech is tears. A heart
Can be so agonised that could
It play some instrument, the cry
It would produce could pull the stars
Down from the skies. It could reveal
Such pain that Hell itself would be
Distressed - and turn it's face away
-------oo0oo----------
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter – bitter", he answered,
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart"
--------oo0oo----------
The heart is mute (Philip de Bruyn)
The heart is mute, it has no voice.
In pain its speech is tears. A heart
Can be so agonised that could
It play some instrument, the cry
It would produce could pull the stars
Down from the skies. It could reveal
Such pain that Hell itself would be
Distressed - and turn it's face away
-------oo0oo----------
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