encounter                        10-11-92


1/    a swallowing of the sacred tablet 
      and an excursion into the 
      unknown
      a voyage in quest of the 
      truth of holiness 
      without preparation /
      no map/
      pure exploration of the 
      most basic form

2/    i met the demon along this road 
      and seized him by the throat 
      and threatened him with everything 
      my wrath could bestow

3/    at that moment i was 
      catapulted from innocence 
      to knowing
      and paid the price 
      for the privilege
      in losing a part of the world 
      i claimed to be mine forever

4/    and this demon/ my enemy 
      pleaded for the right 
      to a last argument 
      in claiming his necessary 
      role on earth:

      without the seasoning of evil 
      there can be no good/ 
      without the toxic, no purity/ 
      without certainty, no doubt 
      without life, no death

5/    i released him and sent him 
      on his way
      to plague another 
      less fortunate than myself 
      and projected a thought 
      into the future

      a thought of a near victory
      over this demon
      tempered by the condition of man

      that for the few as opposed 
      to the many 
      the gems of wisdom 
      come and at a high price 
      in this struggle for existence 
      which i dare to claim is 
      unique