Two days ago I had the rare opportunity to visit and partake in an an amazing Balinese village ritual. It was celebrating the birth of a child and the entire village was there. It was so beautiful to see such communal loving interaction and connectedness between them all. There was a dance ritual with swords pressing against the chests of some individuals perhaps to symbolize the sacrifice one makes for the many or for the great spirit. It was a little unclear however the ritual honored the light and the dark and for sure. Then Gamelan rocked and and the dance was ecstatic.
I wrote this poem the next day :
The Balinese Village Ritual
The Grandmothers in their scarfs
and the five year old girls beside them
spread the mystery on the grass
calling in another circle for the village
the breast feeding mothers
the young steaming boys
the old man stepping slowly
the shy girls
the earth knows this answer
the call from our bones
the explosion of family
the clamoring gamelan
the rising abandoned dance
this knocking with others
on the trance of darkness with the
light of our feet
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