Place of Refuge

Place of Refuge

27 June 2011

Chalice


If the body is a chalice
and the breath we breath
produces
the bloody wine
that fills it --
we are each 
              potential Jesus
the living bread.

Fear not,
             we
need not
          eat
each other
                   only BE
Jesus-like:

act as 
Jesus would act
if he were suddenly beamed to Earth
in nearly 2012

Everybody:

Be
the living sacrament, and then
No One
will be required to be
a sacrifice
again.




26 June 2011

Breath(e)


Breathe the breath of life
for as long as you can,
savour it,
like chocolate milk ---
it is the most precious 
material possession
you will ever gain,
and it is made material
each time it enters
your fleshly chassis-chalice.

Breath brings light
to dull brain corridors,
              brings wings
to sunken hearts,
              brings song
to stale dull words.

Breath is sacred;
                   it is
our communion feast,
the food we share
daily
hourly
minutely
secondly
instantly
now
with the rest of the world.


Breathe deep, 
friend,
and recognize each
moment
is sacrimental.


Remembering The Time









to the eternal diva,
Michael Jackson,

August 29, 1958 - July 25, 2009

who reminds us,
all too well,
that divas,
in their strive for artistic perfection
are, in the end,
only human

23 June 2011

Today's Diva: Dolores Keane

Haven't listened to Dolores Keane
for a little while --
listened again tonight,
and I can't get enough of her.
Hope you too enjoy:












22 June 2011

The Human Band Width


So,
let's imagine that it's true --
that on 
the planet Earth,
Sun,
Moon
all the other planets
all align
with the center of the Solar System,
and we realize that this actually puts us
into a rather vulnerable position,
especially with regards to
Unpredictable
solar flares.
And our protective
ozone 
has a hole in it.



Listen,
I'm no physicist,
but I have a crazy idea :
let's imagine that,
the ethereal entity that unites
all humans -- the collective
soul, the breath,
the essence of life
 -- is composed
of something akin
to radio waves.

(To understand this, let me ask you this:
is there anyone on the planet -
brother, sister, mother,
grandmother, spouse 
friend
with whom you feel you have
some uncanny bond?
And do you ever have these bizarre
but wonderfully natural
moments when 
you're both thinking of each other
and one calls
the other --
only to find the other was intending
to call?
Or do you know
when something bad
is happening
to your brother
(sister/spouse/grandmother/
best friend)
?

What is it that links you to that person?

Well, I propose
that's caused by a form of
radio wave,
and you and that person 
just happen to be
tuned into the same channel,
so to speak.)

If you'll actually buy into
this bizarre proposal,
we are all,
more or less,
giant radio beacons,
and we are indeed
"in tune"
with a few of our 
closest family members and friends.
At one time, too, we could also
tune into the entire human life-force,
but now, our collective tuning
is way off.

But it is possible to
tune into a larger collective.

Centuries of deception
and discordance
and distrust of the other
has made it nigh impossible
to actually recognize
that humans all share the same band width.

If we cleaned out the receivers
in our hearts,
so to speak,
and if we could
tune everyone
into the same tone,
well, 
we might produce something akin
to a radio blanket

sort of like a shield of tightly woven
energy
that would protect us against
the hot hot waves
of the maddening sun.

And let's pretend for a minute that this
absurd flight of fancy
would actually work
to save the planet and all of humanity.


So this is the deal,
from 
Radio Makropoulos:
at a certain point in the not too distant future
we should all put ourselves
into the zone of
Selfless Love, and 
this would produce the 
necessary frequency
to imitate the 
ozone layer,
and save the Earth
and all its inhabitants.

(Sounds simple, right?
We just have to love each other.
Honestly.)

Of course, Selfless Love is preceded
by Self Love
because one cannot exercise
Selfless Love
of others if
one does not love the Self first.


So,
using my wildly idealistic and irrational premise,
the best way to save the world from final destruction
is this:

Step One:
Love Yourself.

Step One-A:
If you do not love yourself,
if you think your life is worthless,
or anything else like that,
it's time to give that routine up.
Just give it up.
You've been doing this
all of your life, and all it's made you
is miserable.
Instead,
recognize
that you got up this morning,
and somehow got yourself
to a place where you can read
this crazy woman's rambling.
You're able to eat,
communicate,
most likely move around,
and have an opinion.
And therefore,
you have value.
You are an individual worth loving,
and I love and respect you
for getting through this nutty blog entry.
So, there:
start loving yourself.

And
STEP TWO:
get on with the task of selflessly loving 
everyone and everything around you.


And then, well,
our collective love
will create a shield of
protection.


In my idealist blogging past, I declared
a trial run, to begin
11/11/11, at 11:00 am or pm,
in any time zone,
it really doesn't matter.

I keep thinking that would be a good idea.

So read my proposal above,
and my proposal for
and then
do it.

I dare you.


If everyone on this earth
would suddenly decide to 
#1: Love Yourself
#2: Love the World Unselfishly,
well,
there may actually be something like
peace
on earth,
and we might have the side benefit
of actually seeing Jesus
face to face.


All Together Now . . . 

21 June 2011

James Richard Verone, American Hero




I predict,
that within the next week, t-shirts will begin appearing
with this man's picture on it.

James Richard Verone
has offered himself up
as a symbol of what the United States health system has become:


James Verone is not
necessarily a criminal.
He appears to have been,
for most of his 59 years,
a law abiding United States citizen,
but at the age of 59,
he has no insurance
and he's ill.

So he robbed a bank of $1, so he could get put in prison
and receive medical care.


I'd say that's brilliant.


This man's face
signifies
one of the biggest problems in the 
United States of America,
the greatest country in the world,
the land of the free,
and you can believe it,
the home of the brave.

Our health insurance system has produced a
national psychosis that promotes a few
delusions:
we feel that the "better" citizens
have their own health insurance,
we work like dogs to keep
our rapidly decreasing policies,
and all around,
we feel
that we'd better not get sick,
or we're screwed.
All health insurance in America
(except, perhaps
that for the very wealthy)
has a cap -- a limit;
and the elderly,
the chronically ill,
have a "doughnut hole"
of indebtedness
to fear.

Mr. Verone was brave to do what he has done,
and we can either chastise him for
"manipulating the system"
(oh, before you do that, think:
how many people do you know
who are uninsured?
And afraid,
truly afraid
of getting ill?
And:
what would you do if that was your
brother, 
sister,
best friend,
cousin,
mother,
neighbor,
self
who decided to do this "crazy" act?


Crazy like a fox.
)

or we can 
pay attention to his message.

Good luck, James.

I sure hope you feel better soon.


20 June 2011

Judy Collins "The Weight of the World" + "Kingdom Come"



I've been listening to Judy Collins' 
album "Paradise" alot lately;
it's really a fabulous album.

I think everyone should listen to these songs, and
yeah,
I'd like to sing them.
But I couldn't come anywhere near her performance:







Thank You, Judy,
one of my all time favorite divas.

18 June 2011

SUMMER FEAST FOR THE SOUL: Being Spiritual in the Age of the Cyborg


There is a message
on this blog,
on which I am consistent,
and it is a message about change
-- the dramatic change that I do feel we are all facing --
and an appropriate way to face it.



Humanity is changing so rapidly
right now,
we're going crazy.
Reality is shifting faster
than I can type this posting,
and faster
than you can read it.

Technology is overtaking us;
we can do with technology now things that
our bodies could not do in a lifetime;
we can use technology
to fix our bodies. 

We are living in the age of the cyborg.


Furthermore,
we are in
The Age of The Grid:
this is
a time when we can all be
in the same place, at the same time:
the same place,
(as long as we redefine "place"
as where we are in our minds)
at the same time.

Bottom line.

You know it and I know it.
People can play in Second Life
with folks on the other side of the world,
just as long as we agree to be there
at the same time;
people can blog about the problems they have
with their cars
as long as they agree to be on a car blog
at the same time;
people can do a number of things,
both licit and illicit,
with strangers,
all at the same time,
if we all agree to be here at the same time.

All you have to do is make sure you turn on your computer
at the same time I do, 
and I'm there,  as are you
along with
 several other hundreds of thousands of people
in the world.

Therefore,
the internet could be used
to unite humans
under one purpose--

All we'd have to do
is agree
to turn it on
and let it dictate where our mind is at
at the same time.

And humanity would be joined
in one spirit,
in whatever spirit
the people who commandeer the computers
put us in.


Isn't that funky?

Isn't that scary and wonderful?


This would be most wonderful if the spirit
we joined in were to be one
of cooperation and love.

This would also be wonderful if the spirit
we joined in were to be one
of spiritual growth and harmony.

Crazy right?

Well, here's a link to a group that is trying to do
precisely that:

I'm going to do it.
How about you?


Two Mints In One

Yesterday,
my friend Debra at
posted something really interesting about
the Native American concept of the human
who can have both the male & female
inside of them.
Please check out her blog for 
fabulous pictures.

In response to that,
I would like to post today
a link to a story at
titled

Bilateral gynandromorphism: a fancy way of saying you’re (literally) half male and half female



According to the story,
this cannot happen
in the world of humans;
it is only an animal condition, wherein
"Some have chromosomes that are expressed internally, whereas a different set are expressed externally. Nature has many ways of combining genes, and some of these combinations evince a distinctly binary way of looking at the world. Such is the case with a genetic condition known as gynandromorphism."

I'm not totally convinced this only happens with non-human animals.

17 June 2011

Small Day


This day so quiet and
small, full of tiny
accomplishments,
like
a good night's sleep
despite
pollen-clogged airways,
a couple new bras,
a vacuumed floor,
an opening rosebud,
a silent sunset.


Is this
what life is for?

If I measure my days 
by material accomplishments,
today was a bust, but
if I measure my accomplishments
by pleasure given,
this is what I gained today:

a smile from the elderly woman
next door when I stopped
to chat; a gradual relaxation
from the trembling hands
of the cashier who wrapped
my new lingerie (she was
my student once: a shy girl
embarrassed by seeing
what her teacher wears
underneath.
I remembered her name,
and her major, and actually
made her laugh, and the trembling
stopped); a purr
of contentment from the cat 
as I brushed her; another purr
from the other
when I shared my lamb
at dinner.  A check
to help my landlady
with necessary repairs.
A quiet sunset, joy from a song I've always loved to hear.

And this poem,
if you can call it that.

Indeed this day -- 
this small, quiet day --
has been a booming success.


16 June 2011

Lost in Space: Paradigm Shift:2012 (or thereabouts)


The human race, 
lost in space:
this is who we are

gripping tight
this wretched rock
we've traveled pretty far.

FULL CIRCLE


It was shocking when Copernicus
moved the center to the sun;
the earth-moving truth
caused much despair
for a century or two
but eventually brought
intellectual breakthrough.

That is called paradigm shift 
(I've spoken of this before)
We're in another one,
now.


But this one is more
belittling,
more
difficult to digest
than coming to terms with the structure
of our own solar system.


At least the Copernican
shift
kept us somewhat central.

At least it
kept us in observable
space;

but this new shift,
well,
it asks us to perceive ourselves
in relation to
infinity:
in relation to
what's beyond the horizon,
lying hidden
under the under
belly of all being.

We're here,
at the brink of that understanding,
of being able to perceive
infinitely.

( thegodguy  *If you can make any sense
out of my collective rambling entries,
check out this guy's blog)

It's not half as scary as it sounds.
We merely need
to discard our conception

of time,
and with it
anything else that is
denominational.


Because once we've seen infinity,
we don't need to count
anymore.

14 June 2011

Kutiman

If you haven't figured it out by now,
I am deeply inspired
by the internet's ability
to bridge differences,
and to facilitate collective artwork
that allows each individual to maintain
a shred of uniqueness.

It's most intriguing on the impact of this on music.

Here is my latest find in that regard --



check it out; haven't much else to say about it.



(with gratitude to Dangerous Minds
for turning me on to this.)

13 June 2011

Full Moon Coming (channelling)


Full Moon Coming,
I can feel it in my bones;
I can hear it in the way they crack,
and the struggle in my brain
to keep me on the right track,
the track that I've defined
to keep me clear in vision
and balanced in my mind.

The week is slightly nutty,
and things just won't make sense;
but keep your vision clear
and the moon can be your friend.

The moon amplifies whatever state
of mind you're in when it is full,
so it's best to not be down,
smile at the day, even if
the smile's  a toil; 
that smile will soon
become a laugh
about the time that moon
reaches full.



( longislandpress - follow this link for news
about the lunar eclipse this Wednesday! )



Road Trip, II

The Magical Land
of the Second Part
of My Road Trip

(Pictures taken
not necessarily 
in this order --






~ ~ ~ ~






~ ~ ~ ~




~ ~ ~ ~








(all photos by Makropoulos)

12 June 2011

With Respect To The Other People You'll Find, If You Type "Makropoulos" Into a Google Browser

Nikos Makropoulos,
singer:




;

Marina Makropoulos,
photographer:


;

World Chess Federation Deputy President 




;

American Wrestling Writer,
the late





. . . and more,
many many wonderful more
Makropouli --


I am honored to be among them!


11 June 2011

Just Be Beautiful, (Wo)Man

Just Be Beautiful (wo
)man;
just be beautiful;
be the way
you know you can be
when you are be
ing the most bea
utiful
you are.

Even if that means feel
ing
like you're going out in drag,
just be beautiful,
(wo)man;
be the way you know you can be
the most beautiful creature
you know you can be
if you took the chance
(even tried to dance)
as beautifully as you are:

Drag As Therapy

OK,
So I was listening to NPR,
my favorite driving companion,
this morning,
and I heard an interview with RuPaul.
(For the actual interview, see link at the end of this entry.)


Now, I have to admit,
I've always been intrigued by Drag Queens,
even though I never quite understood;
I lived in the West Village
of NYC, 
and happily went to the parades,
but this morning I made the connection
between going in drag
and finding the diva
in you.

And that's really not all that bad of a thing.




I've written before about
how we all
have the potential to be divas,
and I must admit,
I was taken by my friend Debra's comment
that a diva is a designation 
for a special talent,
and to give yourself that title
is a bit pretentious.

And I understand that;
I really do.
If you met me on the street,
you would meet
a very humble woman
who often does not go out of her way to look good
most of the time.
A woman (like many women) who
when using her talents, uses them with restraint,
because she was always taught
not to call too much attention to myself.

Humility is a good
and important
thing;
and I think we all need
to maintain it, to a certain extent,
but not to the extent
that we bottle ourselves,
throttle ourselves,
and refuse ourselves the opportunity
to express ourselves.

To be a diva
is to find the most beautiful thing inside of you,
and to not be afraid to flaunt it.
The world would be,
perhaps,
a much happier place
if we were all comfortable enough 
with ourselves to do that.

This doesn't always mean
dressing like a drag queen,
but if your inner beauty means
physical self expression,
so be it;
it may mean
being smart,
being a good cook,
being a deep lover,
being a gardener:
whatever brings out
the beauty in you.


But since we're so repressed,
so beaten down,
so painfully squelched,
drag is the outcome of self expression.
And drag is frightening,
and brave,
all at the same time.

Drag is therapy.



This blog is the place where I
am in drag,
unashamedly
and proudly--


and I bless RuPaul for this sentiment (paraphrased -
I hope RuPaul wouldn't be too offended
by my added interpretation):

I will make my special talent (be it my body, my mind, or my voice) as beautiful and true as I can possibly be,
as long as I live in it
on this beautiful planet.

05 June 2011

Road Trip, Part I



( photos by Makropoulos )

A something in a summer's Day
As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.

A something in a summer's noon—
A depth—an Azure—a perfume—
Transcending ecstasy.

And still within a summer's night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see—

Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle—shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me—

The wizard fingers never rest—
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed—

Still rears the East her amber Flag—
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red—

So looking on—the night—the morn
Conclude the wonder gay—
And I meet, coming thro' the dews
Another summer's Day! 

(Emily Dickinson)













01 June 2011

Road Trip




Well,
Makropoulos is about to take
a road trip
to somewhere in the United States of
America.

I am already bemoaning the loss
of my beloved iPhone,
because it will be harder to get
my photos to my computer,
and then to this blog;
however,
I will try.

And I will also try very hard
to  comment along the way,
and you,
my dear patient readers,
can try to figure out where I am!

Right now, I'm just brain dead,

because,

quite frankly,


after a long hard semester of teaching,

sometimes I just want to sleep for about a month.


Hope to be able to add an entry soon!