andrea hope

Performed at the Portland Baha’i Center in honor of the Declaration of the Báb

The Gate- by andrea hope

We stand at His Gate and await passage to a Kingdom we’ve only dreamed of

to a Presence worthy of peasants

for we are all peasants

and peasants know that freedom is free from earthly chains

that spirit carries not the weight

and so we wait, at His Gate

with our fingers intertwined like our souls long to be

and we shall be set free by our Master’s Decree

for what is a Gate?

but a soft mercy to the fence pleading to let the neighbors come in

to let us live, and live abundantly

to let us shelter under the Bayan Tree

upon its roots and its branch

amidst its boughs and its leaves

and of its fruit, give us to eat

and of its scent, give us to breathe

and of its crystal-pure waters, give us to drink

Let us in to the garden

Let the rocks that have hardened find their place in the soil

Let us in to the garden

to find the Guiding Light that awaits

is shining right beyond the Gate. *

* There are several references to the writings of the Baha’i Faith in this poem, as follows; The Gate refers to The Báb, references to the Bayan Tree, its roots and branch, its boughs… are inspired by Selections from the Writings of the Bab, and the garden refers to the Garden of Ridván, where prophet Bahá’u’lláh made His declaration.

My table at PDX Arts Rush included the chance to add lines to “potluck poetry”

This is what the community had to contribute :)

An artist knows

how to dig deeply for gems, hidden words within

Jam, Jam, Jigidy, Jam

An artist knows the God over all souls

An artist knows how to color the world

or perceive the colors emanating as they unfurl

through the shadows and the neon lights of reflections in the water.

An artist knows that art is worship.

That art worships, that art is all the best in mankind.

[ a potluck poem is a poem where one person starts the line and people continue to add to create a community poem. A dozen people contributed and the switch from italics to normal font shows that a different person contributed these lines]