In the Night School of Perennial Wisdom

Chris Ellery

December 4, 2022

for Aldous Huxley

As he is falling 

asleep

alone

on the forest floor

a breath

pushes gently

against his chest

from inside.

He calls it

a sufi wind

because he means it.

He calls it

great spirit 

love divine 

mother unseen.

The first gust

he names

Mary

love’s womb

and giver 

and the next one 

Rabia

devotion

unsleeping.

His pulse

welcomes

the good air

as lungs

inhale

Plato

Boethius

Eckhart

master of being

gentle Francis 

living love

of all nature

Teresa

Blake

Law

Fénelon

Hillel

Wu Ch’êng-ên

Lao Tzu

John of the Cross

Rumi

Ansari

and that hurricane

Shankara

great reconciler

uniter of ways

who catches his mind

in a snore. 

Each kisses

his heart

coming and going

from star

to star

with so many more.

Thus

repair

of the world

proceeds

as he rests.

Holding them all

his ribs

are anonymous

ancestors

sturdy disciples

sentinels

guarding his breathing

elders 

smiling 

like the evergreens

all around him

deeply rooted

in the most fertile ground. 

  See Aldous Huxley’s The Perennial Philosophy, Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2009.

Chris Ellery is the author of five collections of poems, most recently Canticles of the Body, which synthesizes the Christian liturgical calendar and the seven chakras of Kundalini yoga. Contact him at ellerychris10@gmail.com.