CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

ANCESTRAL HOME

Underneath the house of god

is another house, you can smell

the chiles cooking in the kitchen,

the sizzling ones in oil.

These are the olores coming up

from below. Here now, patas de rana,

in gold. Dos caras, two faces,

divine flavors in chile,

entering through the twin nostril gates.

Caciques antiguos

desde humano a un animal

from human to animal

spirit direction

born at midnight

nacen medianoche

from the ashes

Transformation

for the old caciques

from human to animal

from human to spirit

respect without fear

men born from ashes

women born from cacao

The invitation to this house

come from the man of god

in the first house, visible

from the street. The man

is not here when we arrive

and he does not know us.

He does not see us arriving.

Neither does he know

those who receive us,

those who live

in the house below, the ancient one

this house, boruca house,

dreaming where we stay,

receiving, in constant reception--

a  living house of breath,

one promising the past,

seemingly lost,

the one that never leaves us,

practioners of resistance.

Jim Bodeen

9 July—16 July, 2015

Casa Concordia, San José—Yakima

THE MASK OF THE HEART

The mask you have been given

is the apprentice mask

of the two worlds—

                        the one

worn by the man when he

took up the knife

and put it to the wood

to see if he could

the one he wore

during that time

of the testing              

Jim Bodeen

9 July—16 July 2015

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES

Oh, they mean everything

to us, the wife of the boruca

artist says,

Everything.

We sit at the table

with the red tablecloth

filling ourselves

with stories

everything concentric

and boruca

boruca artist

painting,

carving the world.

Jim Bodeen

9-16 July 2015

BORUCA MASK

Looking into the mask

with its two sides

its divided self

(itself then hidden)

a construct

of empire

taking moons

to go other ways

                                           

more than one

in one

more than two

in two

dissolving

and re-appearing

become

in night walk

ones of the other

ones of others

  

Jim Bodeen

16 July 2015