Reflections on Book Ten

Lines connect and lines divide and other lines will guide,
The longest line being the one between the sea and sky.
One encompasses the other, allows reflection of its splendor,
Horizons ever changing, yet still the line remains.
Dichotomies that only Kukulkán could er’ combine.
Other, less expansive lines divide and necessarily so,
Not countries, races or religions, not even capabilities,
No longer time and space apart, they share new relativity,
Thermo lines do accurately distance frozen drops from vapor.
Lines keep separate crops from sheep, fact from fantasy,
Wakefulness from sleep, faith from unbelief. Heading toward the finish line
We hold our breath and cross the one that separates life from death.

He’s drawn a line in marriage, the bounty of a barrier
Which cannot be transgressed. Yet when two dots connect
Behold, a line is born, the family line that spawns a line of service,
Providentially, that leads us to the life-line of strong community.
Lines that connect turn into circles, triangles and squares,
Then spheres and cubes and pyramids, then prisms
Starbursts, solar systems, hosts of galaxies.
Non-Euclidean alignments come from plane geometry.
A simple path of service can evolve to myriad variations,
Yet from the modest start this path is never walked alone.
Two sources give us nerve, cast away our trepidation.
How else to find the courage to confront stellar complexities?

Friendship, two lines parallel that miraculously merge.
Not by fascination, circumstance or serendipity,
No quarry to capriciousness of preference and style.
Joined by strong affinities, they share resolve, love for the One
Who mercifully brought them together, allowed them both to see.
Friends become true lovers to the point of offering up their lives, one for the other,
And every subsequent encounter brings profound relief,
While parched of thirst to find the friend a wellspring of vitality,
Mutually sustaining, as waves of the sea, as blessed trees
Within the garden, bearing sun-kissed fruits of intimate amity.

The second source, delineated paths that guide the way
To new horizons, not confining lines to circumscribe.
These paths allow the different rhymes and rhythms to be tried.
For those who run, for those who walk, even those who stumble,
Pathways all-inclusive, giving guidance well defined.
Calculated lines of logical precision, beams of light enabling
Discovery of the unknown. The Greatest Architect designed
A master plan to implement, at every stage more intricate,
A challenge to the discipline of all creative minds.
Without intent or structure a zigzag pattern would appear.
Distracted and befuddled by quick-fix remedies, arbitrary rules,
Turbid calculations make us squander precious energy.
Still, clinging to the line, progress slow and wobbling, we’re learning
By degrees, less and less erratic our attempts to rectify, achieve
Economy of distance, geometric symmetry, algebraic integration,
Strategically applied, that lead us to the balance, to perfect harmony.

Sequence is a line, a linear design, grades to tug us higher,
Separate yet connected, from start to finish all combine
To guarantee advances, sustain the upward movement,
The outcome will be synergy, beyond what we’d imagined.
A simple line, a slender stem, within it a propelling pith,
Deceptively conceals the incomparable Baobab.
A mighty structure to sustain the branches, leaves, blossoms, fruit,
All in motion, upward striving, digging down of roots,
Following the impulse toward a consummate complexity.
The gentle gardener from the start prepares for steady growth,
Will guide it and accompany it until it stands alone.

The engendering of love, the prompting of desire
To serve, to aspire, singly and collectively, probing the unknown.
Lines of action drawn, the inner being synchronized with all activity,
Patterns will unfold. The three protagonists, the axel, spoke and wheel,
All rolling into action, but each of these newly conceived
With interplay unscripted, patiently, alert to see,
To reach the hidden destiny. Following the map
They find two road signs on display. One pronounces failure,
The other says success. They smile and take them down.
Proceeding on their way they come to other indicators:
Stop to rest, road in construction, landslide ahead, beware.
They battle with inertia, with surrendering to despair.
They focus on the task at hand, fight the interrupting urge.
This requires courage, coordination, flexibility.
They know the way is charted by the Infallible GPS,
Trust the journey leads to a world-wide connectivity.

Though arduous their travail, they finally reach the goal:
Community, but not the definition once implied.
One visit will suffice to astonish those who stroll
Down the streets connecting house to house, heart to heart.
Evidences everywhere of acts unprecedented
To accompany, to motivate, to integrate all elements,
To celebrate with jovial fete the neighbors’ victory.
The phoenix rises, herald of medullar permutation.
Dividing lines converge, the dream becomes reality.