Yes, the Birds are Really So Intense (Sights & Sounds of the Zocalo in Palenque, Chiapas at Dusk)

The Birds and the Bells in Pochutla, Oaxaca at Dusk

Views from a Rooftop Breakfast on Tacuba & Republica de Brasil (Mexico City) Shortly After Dawn

written on the back of a letter never sent

(There are ancient towns

thriving on truly

spiritual ingenuity hidden

everywhere you smile)

Believe in the architecture of your own dreams

(This supports that and vice-versa)

Believe in dancing

Believe in the mad and holy and unholdable night

(The wind in your teeth/bare knuckles finely frozen)

Finally

believe in everything

or nothing at all

but do believe in dancing.

A brief meditation on the snow in Portland in December in the year 2008

Stores closed their doors & time slowed.

Boots long unworn finding daylight made

crunching sounds in the streets & light

carved new dimensions into the gentle night.

& also there was whiskey & wind chimes.

It's important to remember that these things really happen.

You have a dream in which

someone painted a painting

you wish you had painted

&

You have another dream

where someone made a book

you wish you had made

&

In another dream it's a song

you wish you had thought up

first

&

You awaken remembering

all three clearly

&

you think Oh so

that's what they were talking about

when they spoke of dreams in such a way

You go outside & the world

seems almost brand new There is magic

in little corners where the light

only touches at toe level & so

you go there & when

you return the world & all

its creatures are better for the journey.

What to do with my body if I die

If I die, I would like for my dearest friends to fashion a wicker boat. I think that wicker boats can happen, and I feel confident that I have friends who would be able to make one, particularly Ryan. If possible, I would like for Ryan and Sam to help each other make it. Hopefully they will be friends again by then. If not, this will be a meaningful project to reunite them. While my friends work on building the wicker boat, my body should be kept cold, or at least not hot, so it won't get too stinky and gross. The idea of my body getting stinky and gross after the spirit has left it is too sad to bear! Speaking of bears, if I am devoured by bears (or any wild animal), and that is how I die, then none of this will matter, because being devoured by animals is an acceptable way to die if, indeed, I have to die, which is what everyone tells me will eventually happen. Getting rid of my body will not become necessary in that case, which is fine by me, and better than drowning. Still, if getting rid of my body they must, when my friends are done preparing the wicker boat, they should put me in it and then put that boat in some water. I'm not sure which water just yet, and there are probably laws about such things, but Trillium Lake would be a good place. I found an underwater tree stump there once several years ago, and I stood on it for what seems like hours in my memory, which allowed me to relax, standing up in the middle of the lake as if by magic, free from the fear of drowning. 

So yes, whoever wants to can gather there on the banks of Trillium Lake as my closest friends put me in the wicker boat and push it out into the water. It would be nice to have Mariachis there, playing some sad songs and some not so sad songs. They could use their mariachi sensibilities to figure out what feels appropriate. A mariachi band with at least one trumpet player would, of course, be ideal. While the boat is being pushed out into the lake, it would be someone's task to light the tips of some fire arrows. If I die, hopefully it will be a long time from now, and by then Ryan, Shiloe, Adam, and perhaps a few others, will be proficient enough as archers to feel confident that when they shoot these fiery arrows at the wicker boat, they will be able to hit it at least once. They should wait until the boat has been allowed to float out at least a good 40 yards or so. Indeed, anyone in attendance should be allowed to attempt at least one shot, because how often is one given the opportunity to shoot a fiery arrow at a wicker boat containing their friend's/brother's/son's/nephew's/cousin's dead body as it bobs up and down on the waters of a beautiful lake at the base of a snowcapped mountain? Therefore, plenty of fiery arrows and bows (not fiery) should be made available. As the boat burns, I would like for the mariachis to continue playing, and I would like for wine and beer to be made available to everyone to drink while they watch the flames lick the air and smell the smoke as it billows. 

At dusk there should be dancing.

Rozzell Medina

January 24th, 2009

3:54 a.m.

Portland, Oregon

Note: This was written in response to assignment #51 on "Learning to Love You More," a web page co-founded by my teacher, Harrell Fletcher.