The ones who will promise to lead you to paradise,
Speak between gritted teeth, as they either have
Never known what paradise is or
Squirrel to keep it to themselves.
Paradise has been wrongly interpreted,
Trapped in Chronos’ threshold
For longer than the interlocked arms
Of my ancestors to my living flesh,
As I hear them whisper, “Take me to paradise…”
The edge of it all, it is not a place but a feeling.
Maybe the land you walk upon,
The gazes caught in your eye,
The alluring sensations
Help you find paradise.
It is rooted to none of those.
Most will feel paradise before they pass.
This is because no thing they have done in the past matters to this moment.
Paradise resides in every one of us,
The air harnessers, the light bringers, the compassionate.
It is the mana. It is the sacred wonder in awe. It is absolving.
When the sun rises from its golden throne,
It is not a given,
One day, the balance of existence will simply shift and a new process begins.
When the moon appears amongst the skies that hold all that is beyond,
It is not a given.
When you take a deep breath and absorb the air created from chaos and order,
It is not a given.
When the soil nurturing under your feet fosters the seed to grow,
It is not a given.
Paradise recognizes the moment, holding ground and air in balance.
No one can give you this, no thing can give you this.
A man of luxury may or may not get to feel the paradise that resides within.
A man of little may or may not get to feel the paradise that resides within.
But the animals feel paradise all of the time.
They know no other way to live.
From the frigid tundras, to the harsh and unforgiving deserts,
From the land manipulated into cities to the burning forests from which they flee,
They still feel paradise.
The teeth that sink into flesh for consumption,
In the warmth of the blood given and taken- paradise exuberates.
May we not seek paradise anymore.
May we not allow the lie to sour our sweetest dreams,
May we not be tricked into another’s paradise,
May we not pretend to have it, and have nothing at all.
May we reside as our own, in our own as the animals do,
As our ancient ancestors once have.
May we all feel paradise
Rooted to presence, gratitude, prayer, intention, and love.
May paradise be shared, spoken out loud from the heart,
May it lead to conversation, friendship and relationship.
May we feel paradise together, because no paradise has one king on the mountain,
But a tribe of kings serving each other.