Friday, May 6, 2011

Felinius Azteca

Painting by Rick Mobbs


Felinius Azteca

Lion dream staring malevolently
from out of rainbow rock,
when did you stalk,
where did you hunt,
why were you worshipped
as an Aztec god?

More than panther
but not quite tiger,
covered with leopard’s spots,
your thick mane radiates
from solid stone like sun rays,
with whiskers in counterpoint,
your crown is decorated
with alien glyphs
and unfamiliar symbols,
some magnificent galaxial cat lord
unearthed, dredged up,
raw yet regal,

with a face divided,
one eye war red, the other sky blue,
with battle, anger, death, and blood
on the right, and waterworld--
great lakes and seas,
waterfalls and tears
on the left;

and room for love,
Christ consciousness,
pet or jester for the gods of the east,
hidden
in some anteroom
in a secret tomb,
in some undiscovered pyramid
in Central America

that perhaps I visited
while out of body,
sucking mushroom mist
or repeating the mantra whelped
from darkness of days upon us,
or yet to come, and I salute you
with a bow of the head,
a bending of the knee,
even though I still see those eyes
with my own closed,
and I can hope you are more
than portent, because I know
we need you desperately,
now more than ever.

Glenn Buttkus

May 2011

Would you like the Author to read this poem to you?


Posted over on Applehouse Poetry
Posted as well as #8 over on dVerse Poets-Undercurrents

10 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

Sensual write, Glenn. Interesting term "Christ consciousness". I'll be pondering it this afternoon.

Guy Marsh said...

Interesting!

Claudia said...

wondering if you refer to drugs with mushroom mist..but maybe that's just my cracked brain..smiles
my fav lines were..
with a face divided,
one eye war red, the other sky blue,
with battle, anger, death, and blood
on the right, and waterworld--
great lakes and seas,
waterfalls and tears
on the left; -- there's great symbolism in these lines...
and your last stanza sums it up greatly

Sheila said...

an undercurrent of spiritual experiences is what I heard. Very wonderful writing!

Manicddaily said...

This has shades of both Aslan and psilocybin for me, as well as Mexican pyramids--but you know all that, perhaps, also of Yeats--slouching towards Bethlemen to be born. Very richly textured. K .

Tashtoo said...

Loved the reading! We are in desperate need of something more, here in this time and place...as intangible as we all may really be. I could believe in a lion king...or a tree man, or a fellow sitting on a cloud ready to throw down lightening bolts...something this time of ours has not destroyed with hidden agendas and political propaganda...Loved the write, and do hope I didn't take too much liberty with your words ;)

~L said...

my... how potent your words are... such a beautiful read... especially for me today... thank you...

~L

Unknown said...

Dude, you've got the power describe very finely tuned, who needs a picture? That you find a universal meaning in this brings me close to the terror that the phrase, tremendum et fascinans, was coined to say. In fascination and trembling we find the terror that might set us free.

These words pulled at my gut:

and unfamiliar symbols,
some magnificent galaxial cat lord
unearthed, dredged up,
raw yet regal,

Brian Miller said...

got to watch those mushrooms man...just saying...not that i would know are anything but...smiles...yes we need something now more than ever because we are not getting it done...really some wonderful imagery in this glenn...

hedgewitch said...

Interesting take on that craving for more than the material harbored in the human soul and often betrayed by human flaws.