Donald Traxler's Poetry: August 2019

Saturday, August 31, 2019

He Wears a Mask / Il porte un masque / El usa una máscara

He wears a mask
where not expected--
who is the
unbidden one?

Il porte un masque
où pas prévu--
qui est le
non-autorisé?

El usa una máscara
donde no se espera--
¿quién es el
no invitado?

This Is a Test

This is a test,
it is only a test,
there is no need
for concern.
Hello test,
hello test,
testing 1 2 3,
can anybody
hear me?
Hello test, hello test,
hello, hello, hello . . .

Friday, August 30, 2019

aya tla yeliquase gesvi siquu uyelvha (+translations)

A⁠ya⁠ ⁠tla⁠ ⁠ye⁠li⁠qua⁠se⁠ ⁠ge⁠sv⁠i⁠ ⁠si⁠quu⁠ ⁠u⁠ye⁠lv⁠ha⁠,⁠
⁠a⁠ya⁠ ⁠tla⁠ ⁠u⁠ha⁠se⁠ ⁠si⁠quu⁠ ⁠u⁠na⁠dv⁠ne⁠lv⁠di⁠ ⁠
⁠no⁠quu⁠ ⁠ge⁠sv⁠a⁠se⁠ ⁠u⁠wa⁠sa⁠ ⁠hi⁠a⁠ ⁠a⁠da⁠nv⁠do⁠
⁠na⁠ ⁠ni⁠hi⁠ ⁠u⁠du⁠la⁠da⁠se⁠ ⁠u⁠nv⁠ti⁠.

ᎠᏯ Ꮭ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎨᏒᎢ ᏏᏊ ᎤᏰᎸᎭ,
ᎠᏯ Ꮭ ᎤᎭᏎ ᏏᏊ ᎤᎾᏛᏁᎸᏗ.
ᏃᏊ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏩᏌ ᎯᎠ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ
Ꮎ ᏂᎯ ᎤᏚᎳᏓᏎ ᎤᏅᏘ.

Je ne peux pas être plus nu,
Je n'ai plus rien à montrer.
Maintenant c'est juste le coeur
que vous devez connaître.

אני לא יכול להיות יותר ערם,
אין לי יותר מה להראות.
עכשיו זה רק הלב
אתה צריך לדעת.

No puedo estar más desnudo
No tengo nada más que mostrar.
Ahora es solo el corazón
que necesitas conocer.

मैं अधिक नग्न नहीं हो सकता,
मेरे पास दिखाने के लिए और कुछ नहीं है।
अब बस दिल है
जिसे आपको जानना आवश्यक है।

I Cannot Be More Naked (revised, incl. new graphic, translations)

Thursday, August 29, 2019

I Cannot Be More Naked / मैं अधिक नग्न नहीं हो सकता / ᎠᏯ Ꮭ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎨᏒᎢ ᏏᏊ ᎤᏰᎸᎭ (+fr, es)

I cannot be more naked,
I have nothing more to show.
Now it's just the heart
that you need to know.

मैं अधिक नग्न नहीं हो सकता,
मेरे पास दिखाने के लिए और कुछ नहीं है।
अब बस दिल है
जिसे आपको जानना आवश्यक है।

ᎠᏯ Ꮭ ᏰᎵᏆᏎ ᎨᏒᎢ ᏏᏊ ᎤᏰᎸᎭ,
ᎠᏯ Ꮭ ᎤᎭᏎ ᏏᏊ ᎤᎾᏛᏁᎸᏗ.
ᏃᏊ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏩᏌ ᎯᎠ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ
Ꮎ ᏂᎯ ᎤᏚᎳᏓᏎ ᎤᏅᏘ.

Je ne peux pas être plus nu,
Je n'ai plus rien à montrer.
Maintenant c'est juste le coeur
que vous devez connaître.

No puedo estar más desnudo
No tengo nada más que mostrar.
Ahora es solo el corazón
que necesitas conocer.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

It Is Light

It is light
that props me up
and gives me strength.

It is air
that suffuses my body
with life.

It is my naked skin
that embraces
the world.

He Wanders Through the Planes

He wanders through the planes
trailing ecstasy.
His destination
is freedom.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

There Are Levels within Levels

There are levels within levels
of revealing,
mysteries unsealing,
but the greatest await
within yourself.

66,000 Visits

Good morning, my friends. I'm happy to say that we've just passed the milestone of 66,000 visits to the poems and other entries in this blog. The communication is mostly one-way (which you could correct by entering a comment directly on any blog post or by emailing me: exolinguist at gmail dot com), so it's hard to know what people are most interested in. The poems have always been popular, as has the photography and the naturism. The Udugi language has also had a very good following. Lately I've also posted quite a bit about the so-called Synoptic Problem and the Hebrew Gospel of Mathew, and those posts, too, have received many visits.

Your feedback would be very helpful. Is there something that you particularly like / don't like about my poetry / photography? Have I been too bold / not bold enough in the illustrations? Oh well, you get the idea. Everyone engaged in creative work can use constructive criticism.

Would you like the blog to evolve in a particular direction? Do I need separate blogs for different subjects? I'm not saying that I would change anything, because the blog seems to go in whatever direction unole, the wind, goes. Or perhaps I should say, in whichever direction the Spirit moves.

In any case, I would like to say thank you, wadó, for your continued interest and enthusiasm.

ᎤᎸᏌᏓ ᎠᎴ ᏄᎵᏂᎬᎬ / प्रकाश और ऊर्जा

ᎤᎸᏌᏓ ᎠᎴ ᏄᎵᏂᎬᎬ
ᎠᏎ ᎨᏒᎢ ᎠᏛᎯᏍᏙᏗᏔ
ᎦᏚᎢ ᏗᏜ.

प्रकाश और ऊर्जा
उठाया जाना चाहिए
सबसे ऊपर।

Monday, August 26, 2019

There Is Only Air

There is only air
between my skin
and the forest.
Indeed, I am
part of the forest,
and the forest
is part of me.

ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎤᏩᏌ ᎤᏃᎴ
ᎠᏆ ᎦᏁᎦ
ᎠᎴ ᎢᎾᎨᎢ ᎠᏰᎵ.
ᎤᏙᎯᏳᎢ, ᎠᏯ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ
ᎢᎦᏛ ᎢᎾᎨᎢ ᎥᎿᎢ,
ᎠᎴ ᎯᎠ ᎢᎾᎨᎢ
ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎢᎦᏛ ᎠᏴ ᎥᎿᎢ.

All His Passion

All his passion
and desire
flow into
the keyboard.

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Sri Aurobindo

Sri Aurobindo
said that we
would eventually
become something
other than human.
But what
will that something
be?

And where
is he?

Like a Figure from El Greco

Like a figure from El Greco,
the proportions
are wrong.
Too tall,
too thin,
he is only visiting
this dimension.

Dhuni

The dhuni, the fire pit,
is smokeless,
but the soul
is not.

धूनी, अग्नि कुंड
निर्धूम है,
लेकिन आत्मा
नहीं है।

L'autre origine du monde

The other origin
of the world
is an equal partner
in the adventure
of life,
not boss,
not king,
not god.

Both origins
are gifts
to each other
and to themselves.

L'autre origine
du monde
est un partenaire égal
dans l'aventure
de la vie,
pas patron,
pas roi,
pas dieu.

Les deux origines
sont des cadeaux
l'une à l'autre
et à elles-mêmes.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Cleave the Wood

"Cleave the wood, I am there;
lift up the stone, and you will find Me."

Gospel of Thomas 77b / Logia 30b

If the Spirit is anywhere at all, then S/He is everywhere.

Or, as naked, God-intoxicated Lalla wrote, "the sun shines equally on all."

Let us act in the same way. For a better world.

Standing in the Present / ᎦᏙᎦᏁᏖ ᏃᏊᎯᏓ ᎭᏫᎾ / הוא עומד בזמן הנוכחי

Standing in the present,
he remembers the past,
and senses the future.

ᎦᏙᎦᏁᏖ ᏃᏊᎯᏓ ᎭᏫᎾ,
ᎠᏨᏯᎢ ᎠᏅᏓᏗᏍᏓᏎ ᏧᏩᎫᏔᏅᏒᏁ,
ᎠᎴ ᎠᏒᎾᏍᏓᏎ ᎤᏩᎫᏗᏗᏒᏁ.

הוא עומד בזמן הנוכחי,
הוא זוכר את העבר,
והוא מרגיש את העתיד.

Thursday, August 22, 2019

More Sympathetic Treatment for Genitals (w/ addendum and request for contributions)

The illustration above is a black-and-white rendering, editing by yours truly, of Gustave Courbet's famous 1866 painting, "L'Origine du monde." The painting, which has a fascinating history, was shocking for its time, and still has sufficient shock value to cause it to occasionally run afoul of censorship (on Facebook, for example.).

But what we are seeing in the picture is not a woman's genitals (women have internal genitals, which is much neater, and apparently more socially acceptable, than the male arrangement). What we are seeing is glorious, full-bush pubic hair, such as we seldom see now.

Since 1866, there has been considerable advancement of our ability and freedom to depict the female nude, partly due to photography. We think, for example, of Judy Chicago's installation, The Dinner Party, and of many photographic series showing the delightful diversity of women's vulvas.

Have we, then, become quite open-minded? I don't think so.

I am reminded of the ill treatment that early exhibitions of Robert Mapplethorpe's photographic work, mostly based on male nudity, received. There is, it seems, tremendous bias against male genitals, which cannot be easily hidden in nude art, and which bear the additional burden of indicating the presence or absence of sexual arousal, and its extent.

I have been a naturist for about forty years, and am well familiar with the lengths naturists and nudists go to to separate nudity from sex. The majority will tell you that nudity has nothing to do with sex. But an increasingly vocal minority will say, "except, of course, when it does."

I recently published the following poem in the blog:

Who Banned the Body?

Who banned the body?
Who imprisoned desire?
If the body is not free,
neither are we.

We locked ourselves up,
and threw away
the key

In the blog, I accompanied the poem with this illustration:

Because I did not wish to offend Facebook's robotic censors, after posting the link, I hurriedly suppressed the link preview (the picture). But in that one minute before I removed the photo from the FB post, the post got one "like." For the next eleven hours, after removing the photo from the post, it got none. I restored the photo, and soon got another "like." This tells me the Facebook's position on nudity is both hypocritical and unnecessary.

In retrospect, the illustration I used was quite tame. It's choice was predicated on awareness of the societal bias against male genitals. I would have preferred to use this one, which seems to me to be more honest:

Or this one, which is perhaps more honest still:

I, too, have allowed myself to be imprisoned when I really want to be free. In a more perfect world, though, one with full equality for male and female genitals, I would be able to use a tasteful closeup of male genitals.

I don't think we are quite there yet, but are getting closer. In the meantime, I would appreciate any feedback on this post. You can comment on the blog post itself, or via email: exolinguist at gmail dot com. And if you (male or female) would like to have your hidden treasures immortalized with respect and excellent photo editing, you can send original, tasteful photos to the same email address. I'll return the finished product by email (free of charge, of course), and will publish the best of them here.

We need to finish what Gustave Courbet started.

Text and original images © 2019 by Donald C. Jacobson Traxler.

ADDENDUM

Here is "L'autre origine du monde:"

In this space I'll add sample contributions, with my editing:

Please contribute, if you would like to.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Who Banned the Body?

Who banned the body?
Who imprisoned desire?
If the body is not free,
neither are we.

We locked ourselves up,
and threw away
the key.

Monday, August 19, 2019

He Is Black / הוא שחור

He is black
and he is white,
he is Christian
and he is Jew.
A picture made of
contrasts,
but somehow
all
are true.

הוא שחור
והוא לבן,
הוא נוצרי
והוא יהודי.
תמונה העשויה
מניגודים,
אבל איכשהו
את כל
אמיתיים.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

I Speak to You

I speak to you
in the middle of night,
as many speak to me
in the middle of sleep.
But what I say
is for the day.
Beauty and truth,
justice and mercy,
are everywhere attacked.
We, by showing them
to each other,
will keep them alive.
Only in this way
can we be free.

He Resolutely Steers

He resolutely steers
his craft for the stars,
leaving nothing and no one behind.

It Is through the Body (+translations)

It is through the body
that we reach the soul,
and it is through love
that we reach the Spirit.
Those who loved me
made me pregnant with
the Holy Spirit,
and I, them.
We pass this spark
from one to another,
and it gives Life.

C'est à travers le corps
que nous atteignons l'âme,
et c'est par amour
que nous atteignons l'Esprit.
Ceux qui m'ont aimé
m'ont rendu enceinte
avec le Saint-Esprit,
et moi, eux.
Nous passons cette étincelle
de l'un à l'autre,
et ça donne la vie.

זה דרך הגוף
שאנחנו מגיעים לנשמה,
וזה דרך אהבה
שנגיע לרוח.
אלה שאהבו אותי
גרם לי להיריון עם
רוח הקודש,
ואני, אותם.
אנחנו מעבירים את הניצוץ הזה
מאחד לשני,
וזה נותן חיים.

Es a través del cuerpo
que lleguemos al alma
y es a través del amor
que lleguemos al Espíritu.
Los que me amaron
me dejaron embarazado
con el Espíritu Santo,
y yo, a ellos.
Pasamos esta chispa
de uno a otro,
y da vida.

Ĝi estas tra la korpo
ke ni atingu la animon,
kaj estas per amo
ke ni atingu la Spiriton.
Tiuj, kiuj amis min
gravedigis min
kun la Sankta Spirito
kaj mi, ilin.
Ni pasas ĉi tiun fajreron
de unu al alia,
kaj ĝi donas Vivon.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

My Nakedness

My nakedness
is my statement,
my position,
my truth.
It is the instrument
of my art,
and the grill
through which
I confess
to the world.

She Hides, Victorian,

She hides, Victorian,
in the shadow.
He hides, naked,
in the light.
The world is full
of ghosts.

Nature and Scripture

Nature is what is. Scripture is what humans (mostly straight, patriarchal men) have written about it. To enshrine the prejudices of three thousand years ago, or of any era, is a mistake. Those prejudices can preclude a just society, prevent peace, and could even cost us our habitat.

Friday, August 16, 2019

There Is No Conflict

There is no conflict
between nature and Scripture.
The latter
assumes the former.

Welcome the Sabbath
with joy.
Shabbat shalom!

Synoptica XVI - More on the "Unexpected Support" for the Layered Matthew Hypothesis

In Synoptica XII (published in this blog on July 22 2019), I discussed the presence of what we would consider to be Lukan material (similar to Luke 3:10-15) in Shem Tob's Hebrew Matthew, at Mt. 3:10. Today, as I prepared to insert vowel points into Chapter 3 of Hebrew Matthew, I realized that there was more to say about this situation than I said in Synoptica XII. We need to look closely at what is present in Luke (parts of which reflect an early version of Matthew, which I call Matthew IIa), and what is present (or absent) in Hebrew Matthew (my Matthew IIb) and in canonical, Greek Matthew (my Matthew III).

Here is George Howard's translation of Mt. 3:10 in Shem Tob's Hebrew Matthew:

(Already the axe has reached the root of the tree; the one which does not produce good fruit will be cut down and burned in the fire. [This part is identical to Luke 3:9, except that Luke adds the word "kai" after "de," and has survived both in canonical Matthew and canonical Luke. It comes at the end of a passage where Matthew and Luke are essentially verbatim identical, which they could not have gotten from Mark. Either Luke got this material from Matthew, or vice versa.] The crowds asked him: if so what shall we do? John answered them: He who has two shirts let him give one to him who has none. So the people came to be baptized.) [This part reads as follows in Luke 3:10-11, NASB translation: And the multitudes were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?" And he would answer and say to them, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise." It has not survived in canonical Matthew.] Many asked him: What shall we do? And he answered them: Be anxious for (no) man and do not chastise them, and be pleased with your lot. And all the people were thinking and reckoning in their circumcised heart: John is Jesus. [This part has also not survived in canonical Matthew, but is parallel to canonical Luke, as follows (Luke 3:12-15): And some tax-gatherers also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to." And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "What shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he might be the Christ . . .

What Hebrew Matthew reveals to us here is quite amazing, and to an extent it is similar to what we saw in the Beatitudes: Both the Baptist and Jesus (Rabbi Yeshua) were preaching a social-justice message that was more practical and more radical than the version that survived in canonical Matthew.

I say let's go back to the earlier versions. After all, Rabbi Yeshua died to get his practical and radical message out, and it is one that could, potentially, save us all. Unfortunately, his message was already being suppressed and socioeconomically bowdlerized in the early centuries of the Church.

This Thing Called Civilization (c'est une arnaque)

This thing called
civilization,
c'est une arnaque,
it's a scam,
es un fraude,
because of a little thing
called hypocrisy.
The hypocrites
would prefer
the end of the world
to changing
their ways.
We must leave them
behind.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

All the Letters

All the letters have come
from the origin,
whether male or female.
This thing called civilization
is a projection
of our desires
and our illusions,
and is neither goal
nor reality.

All efforts are put forth
to maintain the fiction,
a fiction that only works
for some.

Pointed Text of Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew - Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Because many people, including me, find it hard to read unpointed Hebrew, I'm inserting the vowel points into the text of Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. The pointing may not be perfect, but it will be better than nothing. Corrections will be very welcome.

I believe that this text is of sufficient importance to the study of the Synoptic Problem, and to NT studies in general, to warrant this effort. Here is Chapter Two:

וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר נוֹלַד יֵשׁ“וּ בְּבֵית לֶחֶם יְהוּדָה בִּימֵי הוֹרוֹדוֹס הַמֶלֶךְ וַהִנֵה חוֹזִים בְכוֹכָבִים בֹאִים מֵמִזְרָח לִיְרוּשָׁלֶם׃ 1

ּלֵאמֹר אַיֵּה מֶלֶךְ הַיְהוּדִים הַנּוֹלָד רָאִינוּ סבבו בַמִזְרָח וּבְמַתָּנוֹת חָשׁוּבוֹת בֹּאו לְהִשְׁתַּחוֹוֹת לוֹ׃ 2

וַשְׁמֹעַ הוֹרוֹדוֹס הַמֶלֶךְ וַיִבָּהֵל וְכָל יוֹשְׁבֵי יְרוּשָׁלֶמ עִמּוֹ׃ 3

וַיַּקְבּוּץ כָל גְדוֹלָיו וַיִבְקַּשׁ מֵהֶם אִמ הֵיו יוֹדעים בְאֵיזֶה מָקוֹם נוֹלֵד הַמָשִׁיחַ׃ 4

וַיִעְנוּ אֶלָיו בְבֵית לֶחֶם יְהוּדָה כִּכְּתִיב עַל פֵּי הַנָבִיא׃ 5

וְאַתָה בֵּית לֶחֶם יְהוּדָה אֶפְרָתָּה אֶרֶץ יְהוּדָה הִןֵ אַתָּה צָעִיר בְּאַלֻפֵי יְהוּדָה מִמְךָ לִי יֵצֵא לִהִיוֹת מוֹשֵׁל בְיִשְׂרָאֵל׃ 6

אָז קָרָא הַמֶלֶך הוֹרוֹדוֹס לְקוֹסְמִים בַּסֵתֶר וַיִשׁאֹל מֵהֶם הֵיטֵב זְמַן ראיתייינִרְאָהייי הַכּוֹכָב לַהֶם׃ 7

ֹוַיִשְׁלָחֵם לְבֵּית לֶחֶם וַיֹּאמַר אֶלֵיהֶם לְכוּ וְשָׁאַלוּ הֵיטֵב בְעד הַיָּלֵד וּבְמוֹצאָכֶם אוֹתו הִגִידוּ לִי וְגַם אָנִי אָבֹאָ אֶלָיו לְהִשְׁתַּחַוֹות׃ 8

וַיִשׁמעו אֶל הַמֶלֶךְ וַיִלֵכוּ וְהִנֵּה הַכּוֹכָב אֲשֶׁר רָאוּ בַּמִזְרָח הוֹלָךְ לִפְנֵיהֶם עַד בּוֹאִם אֶל הַמֲקוֹם וְכָאָשֶׁר בֹּאוּ בֵּית לֶחֶם עָמָד נגד הַמָקוֹם אֲשֶׁר שָׁם הַיָלֵד׃ 9

וַיְהִי כָּאֲשֶׁר

רָאו ּאֶת הַכּוֹכָב שָׂמְחוּ שִׂמְחָה גְדוֹלָה עַד מְאֹד׃ 10

וַיָּבֹיאוּ אֶל הַבֵּית וַיִּמְצְאהוּ וְאֶת מִרְ“יָם אִמוֹ וַיִכְּרָעוּ לִפְנֵיוֹ וַיִשְׁתַחֲווּ לוֹ וַיִּפְתְּחוּ אֶת אמתחוֹתֵיהֶם וַיִבִיאוּ אֶלָיו מִנְחֹת זָהָב וּלְבוֹנָה וָמוֹר בלעז מִי“רָא׃ 11

ויְצֻוּוּ בַּחֲלוֹם לְבִלְתִי שׁוּב אֶל הוֹרוֹדוֹס מֵהַמָלאָךְ אָמָר לָהֶם וַיִפְנוּ דֶרֶךְ אַרְצָם בְּדֶרֶךְ אַחֵרָת׃ 12

הֵמָה הוֹלְכִים וְהִנֵה מַלְאַךְ הַ“ם נִרְאָה אֶל יוֹסֵף קוּם וְקַח אֶת הַנַעַר וְאֶת אִמוֹ וּבְרַח לְמִצְרַיִם וְשָׁם תעמוד עַד אֹמְרִי אֵלֶיךָ כִּי הוֹרוֹדוֹס יִבְקש אֶת הַנַעַר לְהָרוֹג׃ 13

וַיִּקַח אֶת הַנַעַר וְאֶת אִמוֹ׃ 14

וַיְהִי שָׁם עַד מֹת הוֹרוֹד“וֹס לְגמור מַה שְׁנִאמֹר עַל פֶּי הַנָבִיא וּמִמִצְרַיִם קָרָאתִי לִבְנִי׃ 15

ֹאַז רְאָה הוֹרוֹדוֹס שְׁרְאָוּ אוֹתוֹ הַקוֹסְמִים וַיִרַע אַלֵיוּ מֵלִיוּ מֶאֹד וְטִתְעָצַב אַל לִבו וַיִצְוָ וַיִּשְׁלַח לְכָּל שרָיו לְהָרוֹג לְכָל הַיְלָדִים אֲשֶׁר בְּבֵית לֶחֶם וּגְבוּלֶיהָ הַנוֹלְדִים מִזְמַן אֲשֶׁר אָמְרְוּ לוֹ הַקוֹסְמִים שְׁנוֹלָד הֲנַעַר׃ 16

אַז נִשְׁלַם הַדָּבָר מַה שְׁאָמַר יִרְמְיָה הַנָבִיא׃ 17

קוֹל בְרָמָה נִשְׁמָע נְהִי בְכִי תַמְרוּרִים רָחֵל מְבַכָּה עַל בָּנֶיהָ וְכּוֹ׃ 18

וַיְהִי כֹּאֲשֶׁר מֹת הוֹרוֹד“וֹס הַמֶלֶךְ וּמַלְאַךְ הַ“ם נִרְאָה בַחֲלוֹם אֶל יוֹסֵף בְּמִצְרָיִם׃ 19

לֶאמֹר קוּם קַח אֶת הַנַעַר וְאֶת אִמוֹ וְלֵךְ אֶל אֶ“יִ כִּי מֵתוּ הַמְבַקְשִׁים אֶת הַנַעַר לְהִמֶית׃ 20

וַיָּקָם וַיִקַח אֶת הַנַעַר וְאֶת אִמוֹ וַיָשׁוּבוּ אֶל אֶ“יִ׃ 21

וַיִשְׁמֹע כִּי הוֹרְקָנוֹס שֶׁמוֹ אַרְגִי“לֹאס מָלַכ בִּיְהוּדָה תַּחַת הוֹרוֹדוֹס אָבִיו וַיָרֵא לָלֶכֶת שָׁם וַיִזְרזהוֹ הַמָלְאַךְ בַחֲלוֹֹם וַיִפן אֶל אֶרֶץ הַגִלְגַל׃ 22

וַיָּבֹא וַיִשְׁכוֹן בְּעִיר הַנִקְראָת נְאזֹרֶית לְקִייֵם מַה שׁאָמָר הַנָבִיא נאָזְרִת יִקָרֵא׃ 23

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

There Are Other Realities / ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏐᎢ ᎤᏙᎯᏳᏄᏍᏛᏗ

There are other realities
in the one that we know,
fan-like paths
to different destinies,
where nations come and go.
All have issued
from a single gate,
and all will share
a deservèd fate.

ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏐᎢ ᎤᏙᎯᏳᏄᏍᏛᏗ
ᏌᏊ Ꮎ ᎢᏧᎳ ᎤᏅᏔᏎ ᎭᏫᎾ,
ᎠᏔᏃᏲ-ᎩᏂᏠᏱ ᏅᏃᎯᏗ
ᏄᏓᎴᎿᎥ ᏭᎦᏛᎢᏗ ᏗᏜ
ᎭᏢ ᎠᏰᎵ-ᎤᏗᏢᏒᏗ ᏅᎳ ᎠᎴ ᎠᎾᎩᏍᏗ.
ᏂᎦᏛ ᎠᎿᎩᏍᏗᏱᏎ ᏌᏊ ᎠᏍᏚᎢᏍᏘ ᏂᏛᎴᏅᏓ,
ᎠᎴ ᏂᎦᏛ ᎠᏓᏲᏔᎡᏙᏎ ᎤᎷᏤᎯᏔ ᎢᏳᏓᎵᏍᏓᏁᏗᏁ.

Sixty-five Thousand Visits, and Various Ramblings

As I write this, the poetry blog has received 65,000 total visits since its inception in October 2016. I thank you all for your continued interest and enthusiasm. You have faithfully followed my writings through many twists and turns and changes.

Not the least of those changes was our recent move back to the US from South America. We have, of course, lived in this country before, but not, however, in this part of it. Add to that a little thing called climate change (yes, its effects are already evident in our lives). Your naturist poet is now forced to be even more naturist, wearing no clothes at all most of the time when at home. This will no doubt change during the winter months, but for now the alternative is a painful heat rash in the groin. I avoided this problem in Uruguay by wearing overalls most of the time, with nothing on under them. Florida, though, is far too hot right now to even think about overalls (which I didn't bring with me, anyway.

So, I am learning to live in this new place. In some ways, it is like adapting to another country Some of the changes in this, our country of birth, are definitely not for the better. It is my belief, and my hope, that those will be short-lived.

We are not alone in having to exist in a world that doesn't always share our values. This has probably always been one of the commonest of existential realities. It is now exacerbated by wealth and power differentials, widespread attacks on democracy, xenophobia, racism, and the cluelessness of corrupt "leaders" and governments. I am not referring to just one country--it is a global problem, just as climate change is.

The hard part, it seems to me, is to know when we can afford to make compromises and be silent, and when we can't.

Thanks, again, to all of you. Wadó. ꮹꮩ.

Monday, August 12, 2019

The Part Is Not Greater

The part is not greater
than the whole,
but it's through the body
that we reach the soul.

Piercing Through the Letters

Piercing through the letters,
we reach the Spirit,
ꭰꮣꮕꮩ, הרוח,
She is the gematria
and the atbash
of the Universe.

The letters show us
who we were,
but the Spirit
shows us
who we are.

Sunday, August 11, 2019

The Other

The Other makes her appearance
when least expected.
She hides in the midst
of what we think is real,
always nearby,
looking out at us,
mocking.

The Other is from
Elsewhere,
and we worship,
uncomprehending.

Her beauty resides
in her truth.

She is our law,
and her name,
which cannot be written
or pronounced,
brings joy.

Friday, August 9, 2019

My Roots Are in Africa

My roots are in Africa,
and so are yours.
No matter how many
thousands of years
your illustrious forebears
spent in Europe or Asia,
we are descended from Pygmies,
and descend is the word.
Those small forest-dwellers
knew their own way,
were self-sufficient,
and did no harm
to the earth.

Do that if you can,
in the land of your birth.

Wednesday, August 7, 2019

There Is Nothing to be Said

There is nothing to be said
about a naked man or woman,
but there is everything to be said
about the world in which they live.

What's In a Dream?

I keep a notebook by my bedside at night, in case the muse should visit, or something worthwhile should appear in a dream. Last night our dog, Betty, woke me up in the middle of the night, while I was dreaming about a great, mythical serpent. I knew that it was called something like "seshonq," and I wrote that in the notebook.

Checking the Internet this morning, I found that the only thing similar was Sheshonq, the name of an Egyptian pharaoh, founder of the twenty-second dynasty. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as "Shishak" (1 Kings 11:40, 14:25; 2 Chron. 12:2-9). I looked him up in my Holman Bible Dictionary, and found that his name was of "uncertain meaning." But perhaps my dream can shed a little light on this.

I recognized right away that the second part of the name, "onq," has to be "life" (Middle Egyptian "ankh;" Sahidic Coptic "onh," or "Onq."). I didn't know the meaning of the "shesh."

My library took a severe hit in the course of our recent move from one continent to another. I do still have a small booklet by Bruce Metzger, which is a list of all the most frequent words in the Coptic New Testament. I went through the booklet from cover to cover, and found that the most fitting word was "she," which means "hundred" (sorry, this computer is not set up to show the Coptic alphabet). "Sheshe" could then mean "hundreds," "a thousand," or simply "many," which is the meaning I had in my mind. Why should I have had any meaning at all in my mind? An interesting question, and one that I'll answer someday if you ask me.

So, back to the dream. Why would a great, mythical serpent have been called "Sheshonq?" It seems to me that the "many lives" is a reference to the snake's shedding of her skin, in turn symbolic of human reincarnation.

Here is how Pharaoh Shishak's name is written in the Hebrew Bible:

שִׁישַׁק

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, the name looks like this:

𓆷 𓆷 𓈖 𓏘

This clearly suggests that the Hebrew letter "Shin," is related to the Egyptian letter that looks like lotus flowers growing out of a pond (they both sound like "sh"). I was not aware of this relationship.

Pay attention to those dreams! They can be very instructive.

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

We Are Bodies and Souls of Light (with translations)

We are bodies and souls of light.

ᎢᏧᎳ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏰᎸᏗ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏓᏅᏙᏗ ᎤᎸᏌᏓ ᎥᎿᎢ.

Nous sommes des corps et des âmes de lumière.

Somos cuerpos y almas de luz.

אנחנו גופות ונשמות של אור.

Ni estas korpoj kaj animoj de lumo.

हम प्रकाश के शरीर और आत्मा हैं।

The Day's Potential

The day's potential is formed
before the rising of the sun.
What's lost is lost,
and what's won, is won.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Janis in the Window

Janis was singing
in the open window,
her window,
I'd often passed that way.
I forgot she shouldn't
be there--seemed OK.
Looking inside,
there were others with her,
probably Mimi and Richard,
Jimi, Amy,
and ol' Hank, I'd say,
looking all of twenty-seven,
if a day.
But it wasn't her house,
the one I knew,
it was now
a café.
And they were jammin',
that day.
I ordered a meal
from a tall blonde,
the owner, I'd say.
The food was great--
I asked if it was hers,
she showed me the recipe,
and it was blank.
She offered me
a malt of Lethe,
I asked for something in it,
if you know what I mean.
They'd lose their license, she said,
but then, bottle in hand,
(brandy, I'd say,)
"We know who you are,
I guess it would be okay."
But I said no,
not today,

and went on
my way.

https://youtu.be/azYCMyEvp34

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Piano

It was a day like many others
on Wightman Street
in East San Diego,
except that my mother
and grandmother
were crying.
I was two and a half
years old, and hadn't
seen this before.
"What's wrong?"
I asked my mother.
"President Roosevelt died,"
my mother said,
"he was a very good man,
and we liked him
very much. You wouldn't understand."
I didn't understand,
not at all.
I needed to think,
so I went and sat
under the keyboard
of the old, upright
piano.
That piano had come
with the rented house,
when my mother
was in high school.
She was hardly more
than that then,
only twenty-two.
My grandmother,
educated in an Irish
convent school,
was the only one
who could really play
that piano.
I loved it when she
would play The Steamboat
song. The music went like this:
do duh dút do do,
do duh dút do do,
do do do doo do,
do do do doo do.
My mother, who had less skill
and knowledge,
could play "I like coffee,
I like tea, I like the boys,
and the boys like me,"
When I was six or seven,
she showed me how
to play that song.
She said that my fingers were long,
like hers, and that I could reach
an octave.
The old piano, made in Chicago,
was always in tune.
The owner of house and piano,
Mr. Skinner, had a son
who played for the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
Duh duh dút duh duh,
I like the girls,
duh duh dút duh duh,
and the girls like me.
An octave is from "c"
to shining "c,"
and death has no power
over me.

Open Your Mouth and Speak

Open your mouth and speak.
Open your mind and think.
Open your heart and love.
Open your voice and sing.
We are alive,
and we are Life,
Blessed be God.

פתח את פיך ודיבר.
לפתוח את הראש ולחשוב.
פתח את ליבך ואהבתך.
פתח את הקול שלך ושר.
אנו בחיים,
ואנחנו החיים,
'ברוך ה

Ouvre ta bouche et parle.
Ouvre ton esprit et réfléchis.
Ouvre ton coeur et aime.
Ouvre ta voix et chante.
Nous sommes en vie,
et nous sommes la vie,
Béni soit Dieu.

Abre la boca y habla.
Abre tu mente y piensa.
Abre tu corazón y ama.
Abre tu voz y canta.
Estamos vivos,
y somos vida,
Bendito sea Dios.

Malfermu vian buŝon kaj parolu.
Malfermu vian menson kaj pensu.
Malfermu vian koron kaj amu.
Malfermu vian voĉon kaj kantu.
Ni vivas,
kaj ni estas Vivo,
Benita estu Dio.

ᎠᏍᏚᎢᏚ ᏂᎯ ᎠᎰᎵᏁ ᎠᎴ ᎧᏁᎫ.
ᎠᏍᏚᎢᏚ ᏂᎯ ᎣᏓᏅᏛᏁ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏓᏅᏖᏍᎫ.
ᎠᏍᏚᎢᏚ ᏂᎯ ᎠᏓᏅᏙᏁ ᎠᎴ ᎨᏳᎤ.
ᎠᏍᏚᎢᏚ ᏂᎯ ᎧᏁᎬ-ᎤᏃᏴᎬᏁ ᎠᎴ ᎧᏃᎩᏍᏚ.
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎬᏃᏛ,
ᎠᎴ ᎢᏧᎳ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎥᎴᏂᏙᎲ,
ᎠᏓᏙᎵᎩᏔ ᎨᏒᎤ ᎡᏆ-ᎠᏓᏅᏙᏁ.

This poem/song is for all my sisters and brothers in the world and in spirit. It, along with the accompanying image, is hereby given into the public domain. Donald C. Jacobson Traxler ꮨᏺꭽꮅ.

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Nudity: A Human Right

Now here's something to think about. Unfortunately, there are so many things to think about right now that this one may just get lost.

In 1981 and '82 my wife and I lived in Barcelona. The summer of 1981 was hot and humid, and Sandy and I walked for miles every day, exploring our new city. The combination of heat, humidity, and the friction of clothes on those long walks caused me to get my first heat rash in the groin, which became quite painful. Fortunately, a pharmacist was able to give me an anti-fungal cream that took care of it. I had to use it periodically the rest of the time we were there. The problem was that, under those conditions of heat, humidity, and friction, my body was not sufficiently aerated,

It's ironic, but Barcelona is now one of the few cities in the world where you can simply walk around naked, anywhere. But it wasn't that way then. There were a few nude beaches in Sitges, about an hour away by train. All of us, women and men, could be topless on any beach, but you had to be covered up "down there." Actually, I was once shirtless in a park, and was told by a policeman to cover up. A lot of personal liberty came with the EU, and I hope they don't lose that.

Sandy and I have lived in many places. One of them, where we lived for six years, was Uruguay. It's a small country (3.4 million population), secular, and tolerant. You can't walk around Montevideo naked (so far as I know--I've never tried), but the country does have two legal nude beaches and a few informal ones. Our beach house was about a mile and a half away from one of the legal naturist beaches. By law, women can be topless on any beach in Uruguay, but few do. Why? The usual reason: social attitudes have to catch up with permissive laws.

At present, Sandy and I are living in the naturist capital of the USA, Pasco County, Florida. But that doesn't mean I can walk around naked on public streets. It's not a matter of laws (where we live there are clothing-optional neighborhoods, we just don't happen to live in one of them) but, again, it's about social attitudes. Non-sexual nudity must be normalized for it to become accepted. We have a lot of work to do to achieve that.

In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy the physical and mental health benefits of nudity and body acceptance right here at home. It's a matter of human welfare (in this case my own) and human rights.

Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew - Pointed Text, Chapter 1

For those (such as myself) who find it difficult to read unpointed Hebrew, I am adding the points to the text of Shem-Tob's Hebrew Matthew. I am sure that there are errors, for which I take full responsibility, and corrections will be very welcome. Here is Chapter One.

פֶּרֶק רִאשׁוֹן

אֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת יֵשׁ“וּ בֶּן דָוִד בֶּן אַבְרָהָם׃ 1

אַבְרָהָם הֹלִיד אֶת יִצְחָק וְיִצְחָק הוֹלִיד אֶת יַעֲקֹב 2

יַעֲקֹב הוֹלִיד אֶת יְהוּדָה ואֶחָיו׃

יְהוּדָה הוֹלִיד אֶת פֶּרֶץ וְזֶרַח מִתָּמָר פֶרֶץ הוֹלִיד אֶת חֶצְרוֹן חֶצְרוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת רָם 3

וְרָם הוֹלִיד אֶת עַמִּינָדָב וְעַמִּינָדָב הוֹלִיד אֶת נַחְשׁוֹן נַחְשׁוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת שַׂלְמוֹן׃ 4

שַׂלְמוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת בֹּעַז מֵרָחָב הַזוֹנָה בֹּעַז הוֹלִיד אֶת עוֹבֵד מֵרוּת וְעוֹבֵד הוֹלִיד אֶת

יִשָׁי׃ 5

יִשַׁי הוֹלִיד אֶת דָּוִד דָוִד הוֹלִיד אֶת אֵשֶׁת שְׁלֹמֹה מֵאֵשֶׁת אוּרִיָּה׃ 6

שְׁלֹמֹה הוֹלִיד אֶת רְחַבְעָם רְחַבְעָם הוֹלִיד אֶת אֲבִיָה אֲבִיָה הוֹלִיד אֶת אָסָא׃ 7

אָסָא הוֹלִיד אֶת יְהוֹשָׁפָט יְהוֹשָׁפָט הוֹלִיד אֶת יוֹרָם יוֹרָם הוֹלִיד אֶת עוּזִּיָה׃ 8

עוּזִּיָה הוֹלִיד אֶת חִזְקִיָה׃ 9

חִזְקִיָה הוֹלִיד אֶת מְנשֶּׁה מְנַשֶּׁה הוֹלִיד אֶת אָמוֹן אָמוֹן הוֹלִיד אֶת יֹאשִׁיָּה׃ 10

יֹאשִׁיָּה הוֹלִיד אֶת יְכָנְיָה וְאֶחָיו בְגָלוּת בָּבֶל׃ 11

יְכָנְיָה הוֹלִיד אֶת שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵל הוֹלִיד אֶת זְרוּבָּבֶל׃ 12

זְרוּבָּבֶל זְרוּבָּבֶל הוֹלִיד אֶת אֲבִיהוּד וַאֲבִיהוּד הוֹלִיד אֶת׃ 13

אָקִים וְאָקִם הוֹלִיד אֶת אֱלִיהוּד׃ 14

וֶאֱלִיהוּד הוֹלִיד אֶת אֶלְעָזָר וְאֶלְעָזָר הוֹלִיד אֶת מַתָּן וּמַתָּן הוֹלִיד אֶת יַעֲקֹב׃ 15

וְיַעֲקֹב הוֹלִיד אֶת יוֹסֵף הוּא יוֹסֵף אִישׁ מִר“יָם הַנִקְרָא מָשִׁיחַ ובלעז קְרִיסְ“טוּס׃ 16

ײײוְכָל תּוֹלְדוֹת מֵאַבְרָהָם עַד דּוִד תּוֹלְדוֹת י“ד וּמֵדָוִד עַד גָלוּת בָּבֶל תּוֹלְדוֹת י“ד וּמֵגָלוּת בָּבֶל עַד יֵשׁ“וּ תּוֹלְדוֹת י“ד׃ 17

וְלֵידֶת מִיֵשׁ“וּ הָיָה בְּזֶה הַאוֹפֶןײײ וְיְהִי כָאָשֶׁר הָיָתָה אִמוֹ אֹרוּסָה לְיוֹסֵף קוֹדֶם שְׁיָדַע אוֹתָה נִמְצֵאת מְעוּבֶּרֶת מֵרוּחַ הַקֹדֶשׁ׃ 18

וְיוֹסֵף אִשׁ צַדִּיק הָיָה וְלֹא רָצָה לִיֹשֶׁב עִמָה וְלֹא לְגִלּוֹתָּה לְהֵבִיאה לְבּוּשָׁה וְלֹא לְאוֹסְרָה לְמוֹת אֲבָל הָיָה רוֹצָה לְכסָות עלִיה׃ 19

וּבְחָשַׁבוֹ בְזֶה הַדָּבָר בְלֵבוֹ וְהִנֵּה מַלְאַךְ נִרְאָה אֵלָיו בַחֲלוֹם וָאַמַר יוֹסֵף בֶנ דָּוִד אַל תִירָא לָקַחת אִשָּׁתֶךָ מִרְ“יָם שְמֵרוּחַ הַקָדוֹשׁ הִיא מְעוּבֶּרֶת׃ 20

וְתֹלֶד בֵן וְתִקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יֵשוּ“עַ כִי הוּא יוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת עַמִי מֵעֲוֹנוֹתֵם׃ 21

כָל זֶה לְגמור מַה שְנִכְתָב מֵאֶת הַנָּבִיא עַל פֶּי ה“׃ 22

הִנֵה הָעַלְמְה הָרָה וְתָלָד בֵן וְקָרְאת שְׁמוֹ עִמָנוּאֵל שְר“ל עִמָנוּ אֵלֹקִים׃ 23

וַיִקַץ יוֹסֵף מִשְּׁנָתוֹ וַיַעַשׂ כַּכָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוָה אוֹתוֹ מַלְאַךְ הַ“ם וַיִקַּח אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ׃ 24

וְלֹא יְדָעָ אוֹתָּה עַד שְיָלְדָה בֵנָה הַבְּכוֹרָ וַיִקְרָא אֶת שְׁמוֹ יֵשׁוּ“ע׃ 25

End of Chapter 1