Universal Voyage of Tribal

On the first pathway
aimless
Tribal existed
with no beginning or end.

Suddenly a new pathway
opened
in the limited vastness;
and with a single purpose,
Tribal lunged forth
not knowing
whether drawn by an unknown
force
from without or within.

Immediacy was a new
and compelling presence,
more expressive than all
that lay within.

Tribal took charge;
and stumbling
against obstacles,
rushed eagerly,
blindly
toward a sensed goal.

Halfway aware of escape,
only slightly aware of adventure
and growing fully
focussed
on the unknown,
rushed Tribal.

the long journey ended
after a moment
or an eternity;
and Tribal rested
in a new city.

There Tribal met another
who had come
by another road.

One who had waited
in the city to welcome
and receive Tribal.

It was enough
to be together
after the journeys.

They did not communicate;
just remained
and grew together.

as they grew
they began to sense
the atmosphere of the place.

They drank in the sweetness
in some quarters
and the sour loathsomeness
in others.

Engulfed by these
they attempted
to engulf them in return,
and drunk with
the effort,
they moved as one.

Moving about in the city
they found
restaurants of sensation
to consume;
and became known
in the city
as tribal,
The Eater of Life.

a day came when
Tribal had eaten
of all the tastes
in the city.

An urge arose,
resembling
an old forgotten
urge.

Tribal moved
and felt the movement taking
a different direction.

Moving,
struggling
down a new avenue
in the once-familiar
city.

At the end of the avenue
there was a new
cafe.

There
Tribal heard a new kind
of music;
not the heavy
hollow beating
and indistinct sounds
that were hardly heard
but felt
in the city
of Oval,
but newer
clearer sounds

. Tribal began to feel
the desire
to participate
in the new song.

A voice,
unfamiliar and strong
soared forth
from Tribal
with only the thought.

The sound was clear
but not like other sounds.

There was a great light
that appeared
in the city.

Tribal discovered
that things could
be seen
and felt.

The unfolding
was a source of
amazement
to Tribal.

Exertion
was sometimes
successful
and
sometimes frustrating.

The new cafe
was a place
where tribal
often returned
for security
in the
always changing
city.

The city seemed to grow
each day
with newcomers
arriving.

The cafe was there
and when
Tribal felt most alone,
the cafe could be
found.

Overwhelmed with
the vast newness
and the ever-changing
newcomers,
Tribal learned
some of the ways
of the city.

When the day came
that the cafe closed
Tribal was able
to move on
to new experiences.

Materials were available
to build a cafe.
with the help of others
the work was done.

The Proprietor
of the old cafe stayed
offering help and advice.

Tribal learned to use a map;
and make journeys to other cities.

Tribal became a proprietor
and offered assistance
to others.
Realizing the value
of Proprietors,
Tribal planned
to build a nation
of Proprietors.

Linked with the strength
and knowledge of others
Tribal stood ready
for a birth.

Copyright 1998 Don J Carlson

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