175. Past Life Regression

Sandalwood candles

burn, the sound of the

ocean, my breathing

deep and measured,

bare footed on the

rug, eyes closed, hands

splayed on the arm rest.

The present day slipping

away like layers of skin

or photos from a leather

bound family album;

a human onion unpeeled

by the hands of a loving soul

my mentor my spiritual beacon.

Months and months of daily

exercises bring us to this

stage of understanding,

acceptance and what she calls

“emotional maturity” as she

draws me deeper down into

these murky waters of the self.

A total calmness pervades -

a calmness like I’ve never felt

and I am totally at ease, completely

trusting of this beautiful person

whose only goal is to save my soul

and unlock the box I’ve buried

deep life a coffin of bitter memories.

Back we go, far back, through

the early LA years, the late Indiana

years, reversing the coming of age

of adolescence, of childhood, of

everything, back beyond the beginning

breaking through walls I’ve never

been able to get around – or over

accelerating now, the sound of the ocean,

the feel of the rug still there but now

my mind is flying, stripped of ego.

I am free; skin, bones, hair and teeth

disengage as I become fluid and I am

the rain, I am a thousand drops of rain

seeking a black tarn on a remote mountain.

I am a homesteader squinting from his

porch across the barren planes of Idaho

I am a Elizabethan courtier in a dual

with a rival in love, I am a Captain

of a ship without a map chasing horizons

I am a Sultan of the Ottoman empire

lavishly clothes in silk route fineries.

I am a catholic priest in the Avingon Papacy

I am a lowly horse-tender for the heroes

of the Byzantine Crusades, I am the first

king of Hungary, the second king of Denmark

I am Thorfin Ragnasson and I am coming

for your wives, your lives, your children

I am destructor of Chang’an, capital of the

Tang Dynasty, the man that you fear.

I am bearded author of a book they call

Beowulf, I am Islam’s most feared enforcer

I am smallpox carrier, I am Barbarian warrior

I am flood victim at the Temple of Luxor

my soul swept away on the tides of the Nile

and I am especially Roman leader with curled

hair, strong nose, fierce reputation – Emperor Rose.