‘Walk like a warrior’, he said

stand straight

feel from your solar plexus’

I walked like a young one back then

now I’m old I walk with a stick.

I won’t stoop

it’s a straight stick and the track is old

In asking for help now in old age
I further your blessings.

At sixteen I chanced on the Dilly to meet a boy
scribbling poems on scraps of damp paper
sitting at Anteros’ feet,
the god of selfless love.
He showed me around
dropping seeds and feeding the pigeons.

Salutations old friend. I hope you’re still free wheeling.

I took my first steps on
the way of power with Old Master Tzu
the Tao Ching in my back pocket
through fire, earth, water and air
straight on to the western shore
‘footprints runnin’ cross the sliver sand’.

and I remember my trips and my travels
LSD is the sacred chalice

I hung out in London with Alice
and went to Paris with Jenny,
Music opens doors.
I played music in Agra
and the drums in Morocco,
flew alone to Poland,
took a train from Warsaw to Krakow,
walked the Germanic woods by the Baltic sea
and sang a love song with an Irish Chieftain

but the touch that pushed me so far on my way
was Don Genaro and Castaneda,
the quest for an ally,
the remembrance of Alice Bailey
and sitting all night in a tree

aligning my chakras, with raja yoga,
the nectar I know as I swallow
tai chi, and shiatsu, reading tarot,
the gates of transcendental astrology are fully opened to me.

stillness
silently watching the way you move
listening to your body and mine

awareness of breath
silently saying the hundredth unspeakable name
with Brahman

feng shui in my house and my garden
forever following clues left by Robin
and a reiki master bringing me healing at home

i remember it all again
things practiced and studied
dancing with Pan, playing with flowers,
the daisy chains that ran through my life
all along the ley lines

a young poet gave me a map, a puzzle
played on incredible strings
when i was only sixteen

the signposts on my path
have all pointed one way
uphill or down
they all say the same
it’s synchronicity
life is for living and loving

I am passing the map and the puzzle to you
no race
use it slowly, be wise
I will give you the key, if you ask
and I’ll do better next time.

‘goodbye is too big a word
so I’ll just say fare thee well.