posted March 19, 2002 09:04 AM         

For me, this canto brought many great inSIGHTs and quite a few revelations and realisations...

To start with, I think we perhaps got a very clear explanation as to why Linda, during her stay in the bodytemple of Linda Goodman, always use to leave ALL the lights on all around the house all the time:

...and I felt an unreasonable fright
for I saw that Sunset had come

creeping up behind me, unexpected
without warning

the Sunset hour I dreaded, feared
with illogical panic...

Linda's fright of Sunset is also touched in the STAR SIGNS where she talks about two Suns and Earth in between, before one Sun exploded and then the Earth was sent spinning around the remaining Sun. I also love the way she corrected the scientists in saying that it is not the Sun that sets and rises - but Earth! Earth sets into the darkness and rises into sunlight - hence Earthrise and Earthset.

I also "had" a little chill and my eyes teared whilst reading about her going to cinema to see ON A CLEAR DAY... and then the lights and sound went out... and she was approached by that young man who thought she was his girlfriend! He then cried and Linda went back to him and said these words of profound wisdom:

...I hurriedly whispered, then
just these few words - I don't know why

"please don't cry...I'm sure you'll find her, or she'll find you
just try to believe (BE&LIVE) it's true, and expect...expect a miracle!"

But probably the most important realisation I had in Canto Thirteen was A BODY TEMPLE v. THE SOUL, THE MIND, THE SPIRIT AND THE OVERSPIRIT! In telling us about meeting that Gemini man (or men?) - what else would he be? - Bill's astral twin, on the beach and later in the bar, Linda made a startling discovery that a body temple - WITH THE SAME GRIN, SCAR, LAUGH and EVEN WITH THE SAME SCENT - is not it!!! It is not the person we're in love with BECAUSE The Soul, The Mind, The Spirit and The Overspirit ARE NOT THERE!!! Oh how magical!!!
May I quote just a few words, Linda?

...oh Guru, your lesson is well learned
whoever and whatever you were...you were right
and I have learned my lesson painfully this night
I have memorised it well

the Body Temple is dear, familiar, precious
sacred even - yet the Temple is but an empty, haunted shell
when the one you love does not live there

Quite!

Canto Thirteen ends with Linda's return to LA, can't wait to see where to next!!!

posted March 19, 2002 10:10 AM         

What I really liked in this Canto was Linda's explanation of synchronicity. It is so powerful that I feel everyone should read it. I will be posting it in a day or so under the title: The Answer To Every Problem (in Free-for-all). There is an equally powerful section in Canto Fourteen about giving that I also want to post. By the way, in Canto Fourteen, Linda quenches her thirst! Thank you, Miracle, for the beautiful way you explained Canto Thirteen. Great job!

posted March 21, 2002 01:24 AM         

I think that a lot of jealousy starts that way. That if two people are truly deeply in love, there should be total trust. And they should not feel threatened by their 'other' having a close relationship with another person.

Someone asked me about all this recently, and you gave me the perfect answer...that a real love twosome is formed from the heart and soul more than a body chemistry. And as Linda found out....trust is one of the most important aspects of a 'real' love. Sadly, she found that out too late.

posted March 23, 2002 10:43 PM         

"well, he can smell ...."

"why did you give that woman your money
because she'd told you she lost her billfold ?
how do you know she wasn't lying ?"

"I know she was crying ....."

"why give all your cash to that man on the sidewalk ?
just because he sits there and begs ?
how do you know he doesn't live in a home
better than your own ?

"I know he has no legs ....." Pages 445-446

How does one describe the most magical Canto in Gooberz (and, perhaps, the most synchronous chapter of any book anywhere) without giving away its many surprises? Discussing Gooberz without ruining it for those who have not yet read it is difficult, but this Canto is particularly so. So, I am forced to be a bit cryptic. But this Canto is nothing but fun. What a joy to see Linda happy again and to witness a real, true miracle unfold. Yes, Linda, you did finish your Happiness Poem, and you signed it with the astral imprint of your unmistakable "Love and Magic!"

The ship in the fog, the aching tooth, the mistake with Snyder's birthdate (mentioned in an earlier Canto) on the death certificate, the surname of the doctor who signed it, the unfamiliar--yet familiar-- hand, the silvery-wise eyes... *sigh* Need I say more?

posted March 25, 2002 01:25 PM         

I what you said. It is a joyous, LOVEful canto... full of magic...

posted March 27, 2002 04:30 PM         

oh, Gooober, he was, he was !

and you were beautiful -- and the ocean was beautiful
and the world was beautiful
spinning rightside up again
and I was beautiful too
because I knew you loved me

and because I knew ..

you hadn't forgotten our personal Easter after all
like that other glad-golden morning
when Mary Magdalene called out ... to him
thinking it was the gardener

'where is he ? oh ! where have you taken him ?'

and he told her

I am risen" Page 536

Canto Fifteen will make you cry tears of joy as you read Linda writing about her most intimate thoughts between her and her Twin. As a Love poem, this entire chapter is as good as it gets.

That single rose makes its appearance again--the single rose that follows Linda around throughout her Life whenever her Twin is around in one of his many Body Temples. He was even near her as a child.

For those who have Gooberz but have not yet read it, Canto Fifteen is one that you can read out of sequence. It's a sheer joy! Give it a try.

"you crazy, wonderful, outrageous nut
you're stuck in some kind of mystical rut !

running around town like an overgrown druid
trying so hard to be teeny tiny and magical

.... that's not easy to do
when you're six-foot-two

and thinking you can make miracles
as effortlessly and swiftly as an elf at the North Pole
makes a red and white striped, peppermint candy cane

today, you even tried to stop the rain

it was pouring cats and dogs outside

and you said ...

'I'll bet I can bring out the Sun for you
and stop the rain .. just watch !'

then you squeezed your eyes shut tightly
and concentrated tightly too
squeezing your mind
and you prayed and prayed
and you waited and waited
and you believed and believed

murmuring .. 'abracadabra .. magic !'

oh, you were so grieved
it hurt you so, I know
when the rain wouldn't stop

you just stood there forlornly
in your sloshy Jerusalem sandals
your toes all squishy-squashy wet
with tiny raindrops sparkling on your lashes

and I watched your yellow-gold aura
grow dimmer around your head
.. as you said
softly, so sadly

'well, I guess I lost my bet'

no, you didn't stop the cloudburst -- you failed
but you tried, you tried !
that's what was so perfectly marvelous .. you tried !

oh ! Goober, did you know how it made me ache inside
and how deeply I understood ?

it gave me a sharp loving-pain
when you tried so hard to stop the rain

and believed so hard that you could" Pages 544-545

posted March 28, 2002 06:29 AM         

Mouse cookies and candy kisses for all!

"darling, let's have our toast and orange juice later

'deep'"

posted April 17, 2002 12:48 PM         

Linda is starting to tire from playing good mouse-spouse to Brewer's regal lion.

maybe you should stop hurting me, Gooober
and I should stop hurting you
there's so little Time left..to spread Light on Earth
and so much healing to do

G-o-o-o-b-e-r, are you listening?

Once again tragedy strikes Linda.

and she..
fell off the Carousel

she tumbled over in the grass, in her dreams
reaching for a clover.. or a violet
before she even had a chance
to ride the painted pony she had chosen

and I stayed on, still spinning
my tears splashing
on the empty , riderless pony
she had been holding out her tiny hand to grasp
when she fell.. and tumbled over in the grass

" Gooober, I have something ... to tell you.."
and you replied
as you had once before
" I'm watching Star Trek
.. can it wait?"

For Thanksgiving Brewer gives Linda his Judas kiss of betrayal.

"it meant nothing - it was nothing
just one kiss, that's all"

"that's ALL?"

I saw your eyelids crumble
then squeeze shut
as if struck by some blinding pain

the muscles in your throat
contracted in a sudden spasm
and you swallowed - hard

then you stared at the kitchen floor
where I had, earlier that morning- angrily smashed
your gift of Emilie.. the antique doll
you bought me, just after we met

..stared at the head on the floor
broken now, into hundreds
of splintered pieces

"I'll come back when you can glue
Emilie's head back together"

Gooober.. please come back
you forgot something..... me

I thought .. oh, Gooober
don't you see how late it really is?

... somewhere
a clock is
timing us...

and involuntarily
I cried out, in honest anguish
as I had before..

"oh, Gooober.. it would have been nice
if I could of looked..
I mean, I wasn't expecting you, and I was
washing my hair.. and

oh, I wanted so.. to look beautiful
this very last time we saw each other"

and I swallowed hard , so you wouldn't
see me cry

you looked at me steadily
and spoke just one word......"why?"

-----------------------------------------
Only love can break your heart. -Neil Young-

posted April 18, 2002 12:18 AM         

Canto Sixteen is when things fall apart in Linda's life.

from Interview for a Mating:

"do you want a woman who will never ask questions
about the girls in your past
who will simpy shrug her shoulders, if love doesn't last
and who won't grieve when you leave
but merely wish you, 'better luck next time !'
so you can still be friends when the faerie tale ends ?"

posted April 18, 2002 12:23 AM         

Unfinished Verse:

"I look deeply into your face
searching for my own reflected there
and see a terrible blankness
who is this haughty, arroagnt stranger in our bed ?

this stranger . . in our bed

this total stranger -- with hard, suspicious eyes
gazing at me like some wounded forest hing
have I done this to you ?

oh, you are ugly-ugly-ugly !

and I am ugly too

posted May 10, 2002 10:32 AM         

and .. those bubbly moments of bittersweet
when a tapped out stranger stops us on the street
to ask you for a dime or a quarter

a fellow Earthling, who's lost his way for awhile
you always smile, then hand him five or ten -- or twenty
even when you're broke yourself
and it's your last five or ten -- or twenty

and when the Taker looks shocked, as they often do
you call back to him, over your shoulder ..

"listen, if you need any more
just give half of that away
don't save it for a rainy day
rain rhymes with pain -- Give rhymes with Live !"

and when he answers ..
"right on, man ! I dig, I dig !"

we smile at each other, then squeeze hands tightly
because we're spreading the Jerusalem magic
of the small boy's loaves -- bread cast in Life's river
to one new convert
and maybe turned him into an apostle .. a Giver

you always say ..

"the planet is so over-populated
with Takers ... and so empty of Givers
but just wait until all those people
we've touched with Oober Galaxy love
discover the rocket-socket Truth
that they will get more -- they really will !

much more, almost immediately
if they give half of what they have away
and get in tune
with the harmony of the Universe !"

sometimes, we bump into them again, on a sunny day
and they remember -- then they tell us about the miracles they found
by letting go, and spreading whatever they have around
how they discovered the spiritual gold
of seeing what they gave returned -- sometimes three or four-fold
because we are our brother's keepers
and our sister's too
each of us a channel for Love to flow through
Pages 587-588

posted May 12, 2002 06:53 AM         

to be given a second karmic chance
to warn those who walk upon the uneasy ground
where San Andreas lies at fault
.. but blameless" Page 692

Linda looks to heaven for answers while recalling what her Avatar said about Altar.

"Christ, look -- level with me now
I wrote a poem about you once, on Easter
when I was in Protestant Sunday school
I know it was a little corny, but I was only twelve
and I hadn't sopped up much alchemy yet .. you know ?" Page 699

Canto Seventeen has Linda wallowing in regret. It tries to be sad, but it is actually quite humorous, as Linda seeks answers to her current dark hour without her Twin. She prays to Jesus for answers. It's too long to reproduce in its entirety, but it was so very enLIGHTening to read.

"you can tell by my poem
the one I wrote when I was twelve
that I like you

I mean, I love you
whether you are ordinary or magic, you see ?

yes, ordinary -- or magic
you are, somehow, very special to me
so you can tell it to me like it is
not as Christ -- but as Jesus, the man

it won't make any difference in the way I feel about you
whatever you tell me -- even if you confess that Easter was never real
it won't make any difference in the way I feel
because love is trust, and .. oh ! love is understanding
and forgiving someone's faults and mistakes
when they hurt or disappoint you
with clumsy clay feet" Page 700

Linda's Gooober had once made a check out to her for One Thousand Kisses. In Canto Seventeen, she finally swallowed her pride and sent him a check for One Thousand Miracles. He returned it to her in the mail--unendorsed--with not even so much as a letter.

"you've even caused me to lose my faith in astrology
and that's really hitting below the belt
since I've always felt that astrology holds all the answers
or most of them .. the important ones

how could you smash me like this ?
by causing me to lose faith in astrology" Page 697

posted May 12, 2002 07:27 AM         

this is a case to be heard and judged
by the father, not the son

yes, God -- oh ! God is the only one
to judge this case

God, just see what he has done !
he has sailed away, and left me all alone
my Comforter has sailed away to sea
in a beautiful pea-green boat
without even a post card or a daisy-note

to have a perfectly marvelous float
on the ocean
.. without me" Page 714

After receiving no answer from Jesus, Linda prays to God for guidance. All to no avail. Then she decides to converse with Satan. The imaginary conversation Linda has with the "devil" will make you laugh out loud! Linda writes with such wit and wisdom as she speaks of leaving Easter behind for Halloween goblins! Set/Seth tells Linda to take the two doll gifts from Brewer--the fuzzy bunny, Algae, and Raggedy Anne without an "e" and cut each into 14 pieces to be able to get over him for good and to forget him. Satan also tells Linda to investigate Brewer by paying a detective to gather up some info. You see, in Canto Eighteen, Brewer tells Linda that his eyes were never green but were blue, that he was never left-handed, and that he has always been only six feet tall. Linda began to doubt her sanity. But Brewer lied to hurt her. He even practiced and practiced writing with his right hand to fool her! The investigation showed that he WAS indeed six-feet-two and had green eyes and was left-handed.

After a prayer to God while Set/Seth slept, the cover of Time just delivered to her door dated that day of July 24, 1972 gave Linda renewed hope. The words printed across the cover in a yellow ribbon were: In Quest of a Second Miracle. This brought Linda back in time to her childhood where she recalled all the wonderful growing-things that brought her to this point in her Life. We are right there with her as she (and as we) relive each memory again. Linda is back again, and she tries to heal the damage she caused with the wand of forgiveness. It works, and we are all touched to tears.

"I rose from the altar of the cedar chest
a great peace flooding in my breast
and I searched, till I found a needle and thread

then gently gently gently

I lifted the torn parts and pieces of Raggy and Algae
from the casket box where I had placed them
to be mailed to you
.. for you to bury

tenderly, I placed them on my knees
and kissed each one softly .. a gentle snowflake kiss
to make all the pain go away

and whispered into their warm ears

'love is an anesthetic
shhh !
don't cry .. it won't hurt'

and I sewed with needle and thread
teeny-tiny stitches of love and healing
and put them back together again
stronger than new
oh ! much stronger than new

in the healing becoming much stronger
as Gooober told me broken bones always do

then, kneeling
with Raggy and Algae both smiling at me,
forgiving

I prayed .. forgiving too

dear Jesus .. please guide us
on our quest for a second miracle" Pages 738-739

I could barely type that through walls of tears. Am I the only one crying?

posted May 13, 2002 09:01 AM         

I just did Canto Seventeen and Eighteen above.