for Gabe
Gabe passed into
Became
The light
Last night.
At the age of seven
it began
He fought
and laughed
like the wind
free and easy
and fierce
watching it all
with an innocent awareness
that took my breath
away
One day
he asked me
to teach him
to meditate
He taught me
instead
One of his last wishes
he said
was to jump
from an airplane
into the empty sky
No once could say No
Not even the bureaucrats
at the Federal Aviation Administration
Strapped chest to chest
to his partner, he stepped into space
The coolest part, he told me
from his hospital bed
was the free fall
For fifteen hundred feet
He fell
he flew
he spread his arms
wide
like the wings
of the angel he was
and is
Now I step out
of the plane
joined to him
into the space
of groundlessness
We fall
we fly
through the clear
blue sky
No up
No down
No in
No out
No fear
And this is the coolest
part—
no doubt.
∞
From the Spring 1999 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 15, No. 2)
Text © Marcia Fields 1998-2020
Art © Glen Rogers. The Oracle Trilogy I. 1996. Oil on aluminum. 45″ x 32″. Used by permission.
Rick Fields (1942–1999) is the author of many books, including How the Swans Came to the Lake: A History of Buddhism in America (Shambhala Publications, 1992) and Fuck You, Cancer & Other Poems (Crooked Cloud Projects, 1998). Former editor-in-chief of Yoga Journal, he was a contributing editor to Tricycle Magazine. His work is used here by permission of Marcia Fields.
Glen Rogers creates art inspired by universal symbols, sacred geometry and the infinite forms in nature. Rick Fields (1942–1999) is the author of many books, including How the Swans Came to the Lake: A History of Buddhism in America (Shambhala Publications, 1992) and Fuck You, Cancer & Other Poems (Crooked Cloud Projects, 1998). Former editor-in-chief of Yoga Journal, he was a contributing editor to Tricycle Magazine. His work is used here by permission of Marcia Fields.
Glen Rogers creates art inspired by universal symbols, sacred geometry and the infinite forms in nature.