Can we find our way back
I mean all the way back
before a jealous G-d
before Abraham and Sarah
wandered off from Sumer
before ancient Sumer itself
gave birth to patriarchy
scourge of the planet
ushering in the end times
before David and Solomon
before priests and kings
before Jewish exceptionalism
but not before
the original Shekinah
divine feminine presence
body of light, body of bliss
incarnation of the Goddess
when we Jews were
a tribe like any other
Tribes speaking and singing
wearing rainbow IDs
of skin and meat and bone
hunters and gatherers
shakers and trance dancers
Jews no different
moving with the seasons
year after year, circling
around, starting over
owning next to nothing
burning our self-images
in great bonfires determined
by configuration of the stars
burning fixations and regrets
burning bruised egos
burning lingering grudges
burning effigies of hate
sending it all up in flames
egalitarian and free
at home in telepathy
and celebration, at ease
in our animal bodies
Before Torah and Talmud
before Mishnah and Midrash
before moldy dictatorial texts
before thou shalt not, before
all the rules and regulations
the obsession with purity
before the terrible swift sword
before the commandment
to massacre in cold blood
every last tribe around us
with whom we shared
what we called Canaan
Before the Promised Land
before patriarchal decay
before fear and trembling
before we were tossed
from the Garden in shame
before the Garden itself
before we got hoodwinked
into forsaking wilderness
fleeing from the Goddess
to whom we had always
willingly surrendered
outside of clock time
outside of history
From the Mediterranean Sea
to the Bay of Bengal
and beyond, the Goddess
radiating her power
her sexual arousal
taking preference over
all else, men gladly
performing yoga-tattva
down on their knees
worshipping her sex
which in full-on trance
her legs spread wide
she displayed for all to see
holding back nothing
and the non-stop hunger
of men made perfect sense
then, and everyone was
satisfied, everyone complete
This is what we lost
when Big Boy appeared
men shielding themselves
from women who became
no more than servants
no more than baby factories
as we sealed the lid shut
over ecstasy until Christians
and Moslems outdid us
carpet-bombing sexuality
replacing her presence
with nuclear-tipped rockets
sacrificing everything
we held dear, love and
sanity and well-being
at the altar of patriarchy
So say it again, we Jews
a tribe like any other
born from undulations
of the feminine landscape
we traveled across for
untold thousands of years
supplicants in sacred groves
our ceremonies shamanic
glorying in our physicality
luscious, at ease, conversing
with spirits, eating truth-
telling psychoactive plants
fucking in the bushes
big smiles on our faces
any day of the week
any month of the year
No guilt, no fear
of Yahweh’s searchlight
swinging down from above
keeping an eye on us
a monstrous fiction
concocted by an upstart
priestly caste solely for
control and corruption
signaling the end
of the old ways
signaling the beginning
of fanatical suspicion
of the bad news
known as Almighty G-d
And in short order
there we were
scurrying along below Him
no longer making way
for the Goddess in our
midst, no longer greeting
our brothers and sisters
the plants and animals
no longer our divine selves
but bowing and scraping
before a G-d perpetually
jealous of His own creation
while we surrendered our
moxie in an endless attempt
to placate and please Him
our paternalistic G-d
our angry G-d
approving this and smiting that
full of ascetic fury, a fury
identical to the barren, unforgiving
desert from whence He came
In that regard we were
no different from the desert
religions that came after us
no different from Christianity
no different from Islam
all born from the sand
from punishing heat and
a vacant sky delivering nothing
monotheisms outlawing pleasure
disowning the here and now
carving up eternity into
house lots and freeways
promising only the possibility
of a reward in faraway heaven
once we’re dead and gone
Thanks for getting this up there! Should be space breaks in the text but so what. Reminder to readers: this poem is from my book Let's Burn the Flags of All Nations available now...Michael
We all need to make that journey and hopefully arrive at a better place devoid of all the nonsense which has infiltrated our being spoiling and contaminating everything natural and pure. Hopefully it’s not too late.