Image and Description for #489

 

We pray - to Heaven -

We prate - of Heaven -

Relate - when Neighbors die -

At what o’clock to Heaven - they fled -

Who saw them - Wherefore fly?

 

Is Heaven a Place - a Sky - a Tree?

Location’s narrow way is for Ourselves -

Unto the Dead

There’s no Geography -

 

But State - Endowal - Focus -

Where - Omnipresence - fly?

Emily Dickinson #489

Description,

 

As the world is fighting the Corona Virus, I thought this was such a fitting image because I cannot help but see bugs as ugly, evil creatures, lurking in cracks and the dark, waiting to pinch and either suck your blood or inject a poison.  In my mind they are as evil and ugly as a virus.  But then as an artist I have developed an objective eye on all beings and things, and appreciate the different, the ugly, and perverse.

As beauty is in ugly, death is in life.  Death is not just underground in a casket, “Location’s narrow way is for Ourselves -/ Unto the Dead/There’s no Geography-.” The dead and the living are constantly intermingling, like a fallen tree in a forest, the particles from that tree just make the earth and soil that much stronger for the trees that are still standing. Thich Nhat Hanh, talks about “the oneness of the universe explained in a piece of paper”, https://youtu.be/XyAOzp_aJqc .

The dead are everywhere and nowhere all at once.  So it is in our mind, “State - Endowal - Focus-,” In a state of Mindfulness is “Where - Omnipresence - fly?” 

To me this is saying, you will find your Omnipresence in a state of mindfulness.  And I truly believe as this virus is infecting more and more we are actually becoming more and more mindful of our daily operations. Hoarding more toilet paper yes, but also spending more time, whether it be virtual or physical, with our loved ones.