As the Sun burrows No. 15
Vigil No. 12
What of of these imaginings? What of these images?
A coatimundi and a rat
The same body
Repulsed and beguiled by its own self
And every aspect
The aspect of an emotion or a fraction of an idea
About the self
My self
Self in the mirror of Fox
Coati the ego, Rat the self but also the ego
Perhaps more the ego than Coati
For here in the burrow he is less openly critiqued
Coati has come for shelter
And been personified as an obvious sign
A signal
An icon
The villain
But he is plain in this
An imagination projected
Where is the imaginal?
For if Rat is not critiqued, is he not the ego unchecked?
In truth?
And therefore the villain himself
Or is the ego villain?
Perhaps the archetypes are of no service here
But we will the imagination to continue
Because it is comforting
Comforting to the ego and illusory
And what is Coatimundi if not the ego
personified and seeking comfort in the burrow?
This is story
Story can be magic produce magic
But this inherently is not
So let us imagine
Then
The rat watching the Coati dress
In the warm cloths Rabbit gives him
Eat the food prepared for him
And Rat be shown
To be both beguiled and disgusted by him
Wanting of him but repulsed
As we all can be
In the mirror
With our own self
The memories of our faults
And our assumptions of our imperfections
Perfection…falsehood
Another imagining
But as I imagine it
As Coati slipped on his trousers
His hubris heavily flipped up and then into them
As he watched it hang limp and pronounced
Outlined through the trousers against his thigh
Blood rushed to Rats most sensitive places
As perhaps some have done and felt
When they catch themselves in the mirror
on a rare occasion
In just such a way
A dog chasing its tail
But exercise and fun are had
Rat and the animals at the table
We will test these limits soon
In autumn it is easy to eat drink and be merry
Be comforted
And these are the food of the ego
The imagination
But in the winter
We must find the core of these animals
And to do so may be to find the core of the self
And such work
Is of the cold and saturnine and discomfort
The winter
The desert
But for now
A bowl of pea soup
For coatimundi
And a cup of warm coffee
Brought to Rat by Rabbit who anticipated his need
Which surprised him
And he smiled
And Sighed
SIGH No.15
Shall we go too far?
The dog chases its tail counter directionally
Too little thought and seriousness and discipline
Disrupts and destroys
Yet overthought and zeal and overwork
Do the same
It is best to exist where we may
Lay it down
Pick it up
Repetition in ritual
Earnestness in searching and attempt
And decision and discretion in action
Let us give of ourselves what we may
Question it with wisdom
And rest and allow comfort when we may
