We Wear Many Masks

We wear many masks
in this life.
Underneath them
there is pain and
sorrow,
but there is also
joy, and love.

Deeper still,
there is a single
Being.

Naked Wisdom 39 (translation)

ᎢᏳᏃ ᏂᎯ ᎪᏩᏔᏎ
ᎠᏴᏓᏆᎶᏍᎬ-ᎤᎶᎩᎸᏗᏁ,
ᎠᏓᏁᏚ ᎠᎾᎵᎮᎵᎬᏁ,
ᎢᎬᏂᏏᏍᎩ ᎠᎦᏍᎬ
ᎠᏎᎢ ᏅᎳᏎ.

When you see
thunder clouds,
give thanks,
for rain
is surely coming.

Text © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler. Image: public domain.

uyelvha agadohvsdi 39 / ᎤᏰᎸᎭ ᎠᎦᏙᎲᏍᏗ 39

ᎢᏳᏃ ᏂᎯ ᎪᏩᏔᏎ
ᎠᏴᏓᏆᎶᏍᎬ-ᎤᎶᎩᎸᏗᏁ,
ᎠᏓᏁᏚ ᎠᎾᎵᎮᎵᎬᏁ,
ᎢᎬᏂᏏᏍᎩ ᎠᎦᏍᎬ
ᎠᏎᎢ ᏅᎳᏎ.

Who Am I, Really?

Who am I, really?
I cannot be this body,
inching toward the exits,
because I have had many
bodies.
What is it, then,
that is transmitted,
at home among
the millennia?

Brother Ramana,
naked among
the birds and flowers,
knew the answer.

Text and image © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler

My Mother Came to Me

My mother came to me
as she was dying.
Twelve hundred miles away,
in a city she had never seen,
she found me.
I had finished my naked yoga,
and done my meditation,
when she spoke.
"Where are you?" I asked.
"I am here," she said,
"I am going. I am going NOW."
We spoke. I thanked her
for all that she had done
for us.
I told her to go toward the light,
that there was nothing
to fear.
Again she said,
"I am going now."

I knew when she was gone,
felt her absence.
I checked the time
on the clock.

"We may get a call." I said
to Sandy,
as I entered the bathroom
to take my shower.

We got the call
while I was still
in the shower.

Later,
as we sat on the sofa,
I cried.

The time I had noted
on the clock
was correct.

Text and images © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler.

Why Udugi?

The gentle reader may well wonder why there is so much of the Udugi language in this poetry blog. I myself might not have predicted it. After all, I considered my work on the language to be finished several months ago, and even announced as much. It's true that I'm helping those who wish to learn the language to do so, but they could also develop it on their own. A living language cannot be the property of a single person.

No, there is no need for me to continue to write in Udugi. At this point, I'm doing it for myself. The truth is that the language, which I love, has become a part of me and of my poetry. It is now part of my art. Often, I cannot say which language is the original, because they are so interwoven. Further, writing in a language that is even partially indigenous is a great aid to plain speaking.

I think the Sequoyah syllabary, in its final form, is quite beautiful in and of itself. Even those who do not understand the language can appreciate the decorative, aesthetic, and symbolic qualities of the writing system, not to mention the role that it played historically. But leaving aside all of this, and even the fact that is a writing system at all, we are left with the addition of a beautiful and personal, quasi-asemic dimension to my poems. I like that added dimension very much, and I intend to foster it.

Text and image © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler.

Naked Wisdom 38 (translation)

ᎤᎵᏍᏛ ᎭᏫᎾ,
ᎢᏧᎳ ᎤᎭᏎ
Ꮎ ᎢᏧᎳ
ᏂᎪᎯᎸᎢ ᎤᎯᏎ:
ᏅᎩ ᎩᏄᏙᏗᏗ
ᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎠᎴ ᏦᎦᏚ ᏅᏕᏙᏗ.
ᏂᎦᏛ ᎢᎦᏛ
ᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ ᎥᎿᎢ
ᎤᎭᏎ ᎾᏍᎩᎯ
ᏗᎦᎸᏫᏍᏓᏃᏁ.

In the end,
we have
what we
have always had:
four quarters
of the year
and thirteen moons.
Every part
of the year
has its
work.

Text and image © 2018 by Donald C. Traxler