The Graveyard

The Graveyard

by Matthew R. Holmes © 2016

Human sacrifice is alive and well In this civilized place I call hell

Pettiness and meanness are the rule In this, the kingdom of the fool

Compassion, depth, and sensitivity will be derided All thought weak and chided

All by those who know better But corporatism is their fetter

No individuals allowed Especially us loners: disavowed

Cultures go to die In the theoretical sky

Of intellect divorced from emotion Of words separate from motion

Of money separate from labor Of pride without honor

Reason without compassion and courage, honor and understanding Can unleash horrors unending

First the Bible then the gun Blind, stupid men think genocide is fun Where once there were millions of natives

Then almost none

Once hallowed landscapes are now cursed We shit on the sacred Peaks, to fill up their purse!

While corporate monotony Reigns in unfettered hegemony

Indigenous America is on the rise Standing up for Mother Earth and tribal rights Even white kids going native, what a surprise Only five hundred years of Christianity in their hindsights

The indigenous spirit is ancient and runs deep, is Giving, not taking Creating, not destroying, Loving, not hating

We are all indigenous to somewhere We are all children of earth

We kill life For profit and science and strife

We kill each other Our human brother Our human sister Our four-legged, flying, and swimming kin

And the creeping, crawling, and slithering din

We kill ants, birds, mice, wolves And think our problems solved

We bulldoze, gouge, and scrape We eradicate entire landscapes

Where are the wildflowers and wilderness? Will our great grandchildren even know what they missed?

It's better to live on a farm or in a forest than on the street Because you can't eat concrete

Instead of finding our niche We make everything our niche

We kill everything, we, the human mob We kill everything, and call it a job.

Modern vs. Traditional Paganism

Historians do great disservice when they lump northern Europe into western civilization, as the north never was a part of western civilization. The north had its own culture(s) long before the southerners/westerners arrived, and in many ways the Scandinavian and Baltic groups are still culturally different from the rest of Europe. One recent Swedish TV series had the black character calling the Swedes "a bunch of savages", just ask anyone who knows someone with real viking blood what they are like: reading writing poetry one minute, ready to kill someone the next.

Most contemporary pagans are fully modern, seeing no discrepancy between honoring ancient deities and participation in modern economies and states. They are conditioned to think of religion as beliefs, with maybe some ritual included. They do not see paganism as a cultural entity all its own, a complete system of practice, thought, and relationship all in one. Rather, like western Christianity, they see religion as just one aspect of life, an aspect that is separate from their economic and political life. Traditionalists are more holistic, receiving and accepting the whole ancestral package.

Traditionalists are not so compliant, being devoted to ancient ideas and practices more than modern ones. Some even trace their ancestry and paganism back in unbroken lines. While modern humans are conditioned from childhood to obey and revere our modern economic and government institutions, traditionalists mostly follow their own inner compass without regard to the potential threats of violence from capitalists, nation-states, or some delusional notion of "society". Many traditionalists find modernity to be everything except what it claims to be, mostly it is a living nightmare, a multi-century holocaust.

Traditionalists are few and far between, but they are out there. You won't find them in groups, as they tend to live on the margins of society, kind of like one might keep their distance from insane, violent sociopaths. The current wars in the Middle East and Central Asia are all about moderns attempting to wipe out any last vestige of traditionalism, wiping the cultural slate clean so that imperial western civilization can rear its demonic ugly head by imposing capitalism and nation-states on unsuspecting populations. Indigenous peoples know firsthand what western civilization brings: first the Bible then the gun.

Waking up to Gillian (Welch)

Waking up to Gillian
Like waking up lying in the soft brown earth
next to a beautiful brook
In the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee
- Something ancestral awakens, confederates in the gene pool -
The sun filtered by the lacework of many leaves
Caressing gently newly opened eyes
A smile breaks across my face….

Hannibal Heart

I loved her, she me
Uncompromising, alone
I ate my heart - raw

The Ravens of Yachats

If you see the ravens,
           you know you are
in Yachats

They are the reincarnated souls
            of the Old Ones, the Shining Ones

Keeping an eye on
            the dark waters
Where earth meets sea meets sky
            and breathes a magical, mystical sigh

Eternal Return

Every day you
           Draw in, breathe out: Life, Death
High, Low, In, Out, Sea

Co-Existence (cont.)

I walk,
           he flies
There is more than enough room
           for both of us

Resist the urge
           to kill the fly
He or she deserves a chance
           We all do