I once had a teacher remind us that there are hosts of unemployed ancestors just waiting for us to notice them and ask for their guidance! I’ve come to believe and truly feel that this is true. As Alice Walker says, they never sleep! (With thanks to sister Myriah for sharing this in a recent class).
Ancestors Never Sleep
Ancestors never sleep
And always seem to know
What they’re doing.
How is this possible?
I ask myself
Sometimes I am weary
Enough to expire –
What a relief
I will think. No more obsessing
About this madness;
Whatever it might be
This year, or even this century.
But ancestors merely
Yawn
And send me off
For a nap.
Not only is life not over,
They sniff,
It has barely begun for you.
There are eternities
Waiting just beyond
The next bad movie
You fear you’ll be
Starring in.
Go to sleep. Rest your brain.
Rest your heart. Rest your eyes
And all your thoughts.
We have been with you
From the beginning
Which didn’t exist
And we will be with you
Until that moment of
Non-existence
Swings round again.
You are attempting to carry
The suffering
All around you
But your back is bending.
Let us bear it for you.
Knowing as we do
That it is only
A difficult turn
On a never ending
Journey
Of dissolving
And becoming
And dissolving
Again
And becoming
Once more;
Forever and ever
On
And
On.
Save despair,
Our beloved
Sweetcakes,
For a couple of eons
Later.
~ Alice Walker