elegant fury
by rubén funkahuatl guevara
(for nobuko miyamoto & all the brave great leapers)

we arrived from the four plus directions
searching for keywords to unlock
hearts shut by
ignorance
convenient amnesia
ego and
pain

searching for mercy
searching for grace
searching for a prayer
searching for a poem

nobuko san stretched and freed blocked channels of
qi
spirit
courage
love
releasing our poetic human potential

the process directed the direction
the creation of human
light
recycled from
hate
disillusion
despair

sundancer brother moses
opened the iftar
chanting a chumash blessing
to all directons and relations
as a japanese conch shell
cleared the air

great leap floated into the temple
human phases of the moon turning
imperceptibly
with outstretched arms
embracing the cosmos
with god’s breath at their back

then the butoh blues began
with elegant
eloquent
fury

mixpe sang of a silent smoldering rage
waiting to explode with every new injustice

mari sadly discovered topaz with her father
whose teen years were robbed of their innocence

nader wailed for his muslim and japanese american
brothers and sisters
corralled at santa anita racetrack

maru confessed in shame
to not knowing about the internment camps
japan does not teach it

while in new york
her hope in humanity shattered the moonlight
witnessing the 9/11
cataclysim
but hope
like moonlight
returned to heal

victoria painfully and courageously
sang for her identity and family truth

joseph awakened
singing songs of sorrow of his
hidden cultural history

ariel lamented that the moon could not dance behind bars
too busy swallowing pain

vincent moaned of the changing shark migration
from centuries of feeding off dead african dreams
yet they survived middle passage
still jammin’ at the dunbar hotel
on south central avenue

hiroshi reminded us in japanese of our oneness through our differences
sung into arabic, spanish, english

and nona wisely
refused to live in anger
while nobuko san spun her singing tibetan bowl
moaning
for peace
peace
for all our relations
aho mitakuye oyasin

then her son
kamau
a young holy man
sang the muslim call to prayer making
muhammad
malcom
and his father and mother
proud

in the courtyard a global peace altar offered
copal
sage
faith
as muslim prayers touched the eastern sky
while the sun calmly set in the west

the social hall
a sanctuary and haven throughout the turbulent ‘40s
welcomed all
with a royal feast that fed our soul and senses
as kevin’s magical band of healers
elevated the room with bells and drums
a spirit-music catharsis and homage
to the monster and the god in us

the celestial sounds inspired by 9/11 hellfire
erupted in flames with najeeba’s searing words
cutting through our complacency
like an acetylene torch
reminding that
jihad
is inside
us
the eternal struggle to live in peace
lies inside us all

the iftar closed in the courtyard
muslim next to buddhist
christian next to jew
believers next to non believers
dancing a native american friendship dance
circling the peace altar
carrying candles
in honor of
ancestors
loved ones
homes and dreams
broken by xenophobic cowardice

we danced sacred songs under a
wet
weary
ramadan moon
giving birth to a
parallel universe
expanding with
tears of fire
cooling with
hope
breathing with
love



Sacred Moon Songs Home Page


Updated: 4/22/04