JOSHUA MORROW, MA Student
Michigan born and raised. University educated in biomedical engineering, instead of entering the field I worked in psychology and agriculture around the states (including Santa Cruz, CA) as a vagabond on a spiritual quest. Now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I have settled down and begun training for my chosen career as a psychologist.
The Shaman in the Machine
(Acrylic on Canvas, 16” x 20”)
There lies in our hearts
An ancient language
Buried deep in the maze
Of the human experience
This is our foundation
Primordial anchorage
From this we've been severed
Modern life – so luxurious
The rope has been cut
Now we drift on this ocean
The Great American Void
In swaying-like motion
The question I ask
Is how we begin?
To start that long journey
For the temple within
Remember the cordage
Given by Daedalus?
For Theseus's labyrinth
& Minotaur's malice?
The labors of Heracles?
Athena's jurisprudence?
Arrow-pierced Chiron
And his long list of students?
Odysseus's nostos
& Penelope's tapestry?
Can you decipher the code
left by our ancestry?
Under pillars of marble
Now standing in ruins
These stories were told
Building souls for the humans
Now in our sickness
& Empire's charades
We forsaked sacred symbols
Now our debts will be paid
Without a mythology
that has living spirit
We are hopeless and lost
Wasting life oh so pyrrhic
Ashes to ashes
& rust unto rust
our Health will be found
In our hearts full of dust
There you will find
A home long forgotten
Morning light shining through
An old window-frame rotten
Letters and pictures
Lay scattered abouts
Books and maps piled up
With no obvious routes
Obscure paintings on walls
An ornate sterling mirror
Piano without paper
It had once been much clearer
"Articulate the chaos
Manufacture resurrection
Overcome distraction
To control your evolution"
These lyrics sung by Liberty
from the western desert sand
Points for all who can listen
The path out our wasteland