once there was this
and there was that
this was not that
this was everything
that was nothing
this was intelligent spirit whole
that was void empty null
but this could not experience that
and it could not experience itself
this which was everything
became everything else
this imploded
and permeated that
this fragmented into tiny tiny parts
sparks fly from a flame
a flame from a fire
a fire from an inferno
this saw itself
and did not know it was this
its memory shattered into infinite fragments
each bit of this is but an aspect of the big this
every aspect unique
every aspect that had to be what it is
so everything could be fulfilled
as it must
for how could it not be?
paradox entered the world
spirit took on matter
numbers had words
words had numbers
male contained female
female contained male back
paintings were also songs
songs all had paintings
the mountains could only be seen from the valleys
the day was welcomed after the long night
the night was welcomed after the long day
the flowers breathed out and the people breathed in
and the vines sang
and the coca plants whispered
and deep within poppies the opium crooned
and the marijuana called out
and the mushrooms quietly laughed
and the grape slurred
and the tobacco gritted its teeth
and the iboga tree shouted harshly
and the acacia tree whistled
and the ephedra plants bawled out
and the tea trees yawned
and the ergot sniggered in the rye
and the mandrake spoke out: it said careful
and the belladonna said how beautiful
and the datura cackled
and the coffee beans said wake up
and the valerian said cool down
and the ginseng said be a man
and the sage said going sideways
and the guarana said hurry up
and the hops said whose round?
and the soma said you will forget me
and the people and the vegetal kingdom
were hand in glove
and the people communed with the vegetals
and cultivated them
in return for their powers
each with its own power
each with its own price
each with its own personality
and they learnt much
and people were free
to do as they pleased
until one day
some people
decided
that
there was only one way
and it was their way
and they said
there has been a mistake
nature has produced these monstrous plants
and people were locked away
hounded
and even killed
for daring to invite these plants in
the people in control
liked to be in control
they were unimaginative
they were obstinate
the were brutal
they did not want the others to have their vegetal communion
they did not want free thinking
it frightened them
they perceived that they would lose control
if people listened to the plants
they did not want visions
they did not want travel between the planes
they wanted prisons and executions and war
they wanted control
they frightened the people with their hysteria
with their misplaced zealotry
but these controlling people
attracted the stupid and vicious and ghastly
the manipulated the weak and easy populations
they took away natures medicine
and concocted their own
and they gave the world sleeping pills
tranquillizers
amyl nitrate
sugar whitened with bones
and thalidomide
and agent orange
and nerve gas
and oxycodone
and xanax
and monosodium glutamate
and gelatin
and the controllers said
take these things
for we made them ourselves
and people believed it
and though the controllers
lied and hurt the people over and over
the people believed until they could not think for themselves
and the controllers feared the vegetal knowledge of certain plants
and it knew that the knowledge the plants contained
was what their god had said to adam
that if you eat this you will become as gods yourselves
and their jealous old god didnt want that
and the jealous old controllers didnt want that either
so they made healing plants the enemy
or they chemicalized them and made them harsher
and stronger and more vicious
and you can tell the controllers
by their love of war and weapons and meat and power
they are stupid and ugly and afraid
they hit first and ask questions later
they have given you the coliseums
and the world wars
and the vietnams
and the assault rifles
and the cigarettes
and the gossip rags
and the radiation
and the electro-magnetic pollution
they gave you jfks assassination
and his brother
they killed marilyn n dr winston o’boogie
they do whatever they like
they dont love us
they dont lead us
they just control us
the same old bunch
the very worst
the most ignorant
the most xenophobic
the ones who dont love the sick and the poor
the ones who dont like the singing and dancing
the ones who dont like you dreaming your own dreams
the ones who dont like anybody else
but themselves
epitomized and personified in george bush
the anti-vine
the anti-vision
the anti-love
the anti-life
the cage
the trap
the brute
the claw
the end