The Quiet Resurrection

author’s note:

Robert Bly didn’t tell men to become wild men.  He told us to feel what we feel.


THE QUIET RESURRECTION

The first time he passed those woods
on the way to school
the sight of their dark depths
caused a sudden thumping in his chest.

As a storm began to roil inside him
that boy of six then remembered
the sci-fi movie he’d seen—
maybe a wild creature within
was trying to take control of him.

So he raced away
and after that day
lowered his head
and crept with hesitant steps
around the forest
so as not to wake the beast.

Unfortunately
he begin to use that same caution
wherever he went—
keep the monster down.
That way of walking
became a way of being.
As a result
by the time he’d reached adulthood
his life felt drained of life.

So he bought a book about
“increasing your vitality”.
But then felt confused when he read:
you must let the life hidden within you live.

Okay, but how?
How could he set free
that unknown unlived life?

He then recalled the dark forest
he’d avoided as a boy.

In his desperation he decided:
maybe a little look would provoke
those ashes in his belly.

So on a quiet afternoon he finally approached
those shadowy woods
and crossed the border
into the shifting twilight shade.

As his heart began to thump
he again became that boy—
afraid some untamed force
would rise up from within
and take control of him—
making him behave in ways
that would wreck his world.

But when the fantasy
didn’t become reality
he actually felt a bit disappointed.
Better the ripping transformation
than the drip drip drip of tedious attrition.

Nonetheless
through his act he did find life.

After his expectations collapsed
he was able to wander through
that ordinary paradise
with thoughtless ease
and soon became entranced
by the sound of soft rain tremoring the leaves.

Only later at home
did he notice that gently buzzing thrill
running through him, body and spirit:

the first sign
he’d begun to resurrect
the life he had buried
down in his dusky dusty depths.

mythsteps · The Quiet Resurrection

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