from 40 feet down:

its four below out there

its four below out there,

cold as crap.

i was up half the night

with back pain,

too much back pain.

so i got up and sat in my chair,

talked to the spirit world a while.

that was helpful.

i want to talk about angels now.

i'm tired of talking about demons

and crazies and hungry ghosts

(there are so honkin' many).

anyways, at 70 years old,

angels are the more interesting subject.

let’s start by looking at the sides of things.

everything has a side within a side.

and a side to that.

to see thru something

you must look from the side.

and you must feel with your looking.

for example, a sunset might look

just like a sunset to most folks,

but from the side its closer

to the halleluiah chorus

in multiple dimensions,

more like an orgasm.

but the kind of orgasm

like when you're twenty-six

and living in a commune

and you've been picking blackberries

on a hot summer's day

in the meadow next to the back woods

and you're all sweaty and tired

and you've filled your mouth

with the most beautiful

plump and voluptuous wild

wisconsin blackberries

and you close your eyes

and concentrate

and begin to chew

and your whole being explodes

into a wealth of taste and sensation

and glory and love and wildness

and for that exact moment

life is full and good and beautiful

and o god so much so much

and yes lets go on with it forever,

let’s go on with it forever,

yes, let’s go on with it forever…

an angel is pretty much like that.

only without the orgasm part,

or the berry thing,

or the part about sides

and sunsets.

with angels less is more.

where more means

everything.

god bless all those that walk in the light.

god bless all those that walk

without the benefit of the light.

god bless all those that carry others,

that hold their hand,

that feed them,

that dress their wounds.

and especially,

god bless those

that are embodied

for just this short while.

may they live in the understanding

that living isn't everything,

that it is actually just a small thing,

though it is everything.

copyright dougie padilla 2021