Gnosis, God knows, is always hip—
be it ganja or a Hermann Hesse trip
(Demian deifying metamorphosis…)
appearing harmless until too late:
a terminal necrosis.
What for some was illumination—
for others dark neurosis,
is known experimentally
(or through osmosis).
The breath of divine enlightenment,
no mere halitosis,
may blow so hard the house implodes
in psychosis.
Thank God the Christ has come in flesh;
let this our mutual faith refresh
to break the cursed hypnosis.
Gnosis reveals in reverberation:
you’ve done too many bong hits.
You sprawl at the threshold of psychosis
until the shape of the song fits.
Your cannabis-flavored thoughts implode—
you glimpse the Divine Emanation
as the lesser vibrations diminish and die
now you enter the shrine of elation.
This rare revelation—imparted to you
(the neurotransmitters surge)
seems to show that you know, that you know, that you know
the deceptions of Demiurge…
LINKED VERSIONGnosis reveals in reverberation:
you’ve done too many bong hits.
You sprawl at the threshold of psychosis
until the shape of the song fits.
Your cannabis-flavored thoughts implode—
you glimpse the Divine Emanation
as the lesser vibrations diminish and die
now you enter the shrine of elation.
This rare revelation—imparted to you
(the neurotransmitters surge)
seems to show that you know that you know that you know
the deceptions of Demiurge..
Quick post about two artists I like:
Two years ago, at a Job Lots-type discount store, I found a trove of art postcards on sale. They were produced by Pomegranate in CA. I bought two unfolding pentych postcards by artists I did not recognize. That’s how I discovered Mati Klarwein and Cliff McReynolds.
One pentych postcard was the Saint John Pentych by Mati Klarwein. I read a lot into this painting; the desolate mediterranean view from within a cave and the fair damsel with Greek written all over her chest bring to mind Saint John on Patmos and the “woman clothed with the sun” of Revelation. Did the artist intend this?
The other postcard was Cliff McReynold’s La Jolla Pentych.
McReynolds output is far less, but I find it equally illuminating. I just learned that he did an album cover for Flora Purim. I can’t find all five frames of his pentych online, but here is a link to Now (available as a poster) and below you can see the central painting (Life):
Klarwein is better-known since he established himself as an album-cover illustrator in the 60’s and 70’s. You have probably seen his work on Santana and Miles Davis albums among others.
In this part of the Saint John Pentych below I found the perfect match to the epiphany at the end of It’s All Too Much .
I won’t go on about these two – just look at the links and the artist’s sites.
CONNECT/HOOK 