8. LOST & FOUND
On a starlit tropical evening
The friendly man went walking -
The breeze politely whispered
For the ocean waves were talking.
There was a great excitement
In the rolling surf that night -
The starlit sky was cloudless
So the moon could shed its light.
The man was deeply breathing in
The freshness of the air.
Even he could feel the tingle
Of excitement everywhere.
And then, as if on signal,
A mighty freak wave crashed
With such determination
That he was completely splashed.
The ocean had demanded
That he focus his attention
And identify the source
Of all this new exciting tension.
He waited many hours
As he stared far out to sea
In the hope that all his patience
Would pay off eventually.
The tide had quite receded -
The small waves barely lapped.
Then, in the gentle breeze, the sudden sound
Of a broken sail that flapped.
What was that - a sail boat?
Or a ghost ship in the night?
With broken sails a-flapping,
It floated into sight.
The man was struck quite dumb.
What an unusual craft.
It looked just like a temple -
Floating on a raft.
If he’d ever seen a travelled ship
Then surely this was one.
What wild, interesting adventure
Had this vessel undergone?
So he waded in to meet it
In deep, up to his chest
And was surprised at just how easily
He brought the craft to rest.
He guided it ashore
And pulled it high onto the sand.
While it must have weighed a thousand tons
It almost floated in his hand.
He felt a great connection
With this temple on a raft.
So great, it made him happy.
So happy that he laughed.
For, many suns and moons ago,
The man did make a choice -
To use the powers of his mind
Or use the power of his voice.
So he became a speaker -
He could sweep you of your feet.
When he spoke it was inspired
And his visions were a treat.
So clearly could he weave
The thread of picture with the word
That many said it was
The finest tapestry they’d heard.
And surely this was true -
For it was in pictures that he spoke
Until one day somebody made
A most profoundly simple joke.
‘You speak so well’, the fellow joked,
‘Like living in a dream
But just how much of all you tell
Have you ever really seen?’
This drew a coldness on the man
For intuitively he knew
That he had just been challenged
To prove his storylines were true.
No longer sure of what was true,
He sat and quietly reflected
On the aspect of his life
That he’d unwittingly neglected.
While not a single podium
Was not his on which to stand,
His greatest works would not be done
Till he discovered Airy Land.
For there he found the questions
To the answers that he sought.
He discovered a whole new aspect
To the purpose of a thought.
Now he could experience
All the visions that he had
And no longer hold the nagging fear
That maybe he was mad.
For in Airy Land he found himself -
An integrated being.
Where there was a simple motto:
‘Believe in what you’re seeing.’
And so the friendly man
Began to recognise this boat
And realised just how lucky he was
That it had stayed afloat.
For many years he’d drifted,
As if without a soul,
But that night he found himself
And finally he was whole.
For now, his search had ended.
He had found what he had lost
And if Airy Land was what it took,
Then he was happy with the cost.
SJ
This is where you go off and find your own AiryLand
(or, if you want to stick around a while…)
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