Being Called
New Orleans, 2009

 
Filling an hour before the zydepunks show,
I wander Bourbon St.
Feeling encased by thick opaque glass
I drift around the drunken walking
And find myself in yet another Voo-doo shop

I am in the back corner, surrounded by masks
When I drop inwards
Sound of the street dims
All I distinctly hear is the rotation of the fan above me
It’s an old fan, moving slowly
Moving air over the masks

I’m aware that I’m dropped inwards
I stand in one spot and simply let my eyes see
I stand
I listen to the fan rotating
It feels like all that exists is myself and this fan
I almost expect one of the masks to speak

I wait
I feel like someone wants to speak
There is some message in this dip inwards
The fan continues to rotate
Shop is empty now and I continue to stand

Nothing happens
Time passes slower when I’m within
I decide to leave
He’s standing outside in his black hat and coat
“You are interesting,” he opens
I smile

He’s a magician, the reader on duty
We speak for endless minutes
We sit on the curb as light rain falls about us
I open the small black loaned umbrella
I watch his white teeth and let his words wash over

I speak slowly, from the depth of being within
It’s harder for me to speak from this place
But I feel strong, present, wise, old
His terms are different, his grounding different, his belief in magic different
And he feels so very young due to his nervous fast words

Yet I still know he has a message for me
“Is there something you have to tell me?  Can you reach deep within?” I ask

“Fear is good,” he says.  “It is important to reach through that fear.”

Mmmm.  I walk away into the night.

I find my way into that shop several more times
Each time the fan is off .

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