Remembered Eden
Dark Goddess of the Inward Sky
The Star King sings; as Charioteer
He leaps forth with his hounding cry
And dashes through the lightning’s sear.
Tall Chessmen stand,
The World is square,
Opposites interpenetrate;
The King and Queen,
A royal pair,
Of Black and White in stately mate.
The Yin and Yang are Asian Light;
Their white and black spin on the Wheel:
Drawn by the vacuum of Her night
All things begin; and all things heal.
Tall Chessmen stand,
The World is square,
Opposites interpenetrate;
The King and Queen,
A stately pair,
Of White and Black in royal mate.
— Grady L. McMurtry
“The Southerner remembers . . .
a kind Eden
in which he loved black people
and they loved him . . .”
— Nobody Knows My Name.
James Baldwin
8/22/61 e.v.
Note: Originally published in Thelema Lodge Calendar, August 1996.