Carla’s Cogitations

Shortlisted by the Oxford School of Poetry, 27 August 2024 See: https://www.oxfordschoolofpoetry.com/post/the-charnel-house-by-carla-toney

Why North America should be renamed Skilpaddeøya See: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/12/why-north-america-should-be-renamed-skilpaddeya

To Claire L’Enfant (1951-2018). Where were the gods of Greecein that darkened hour whenyou fed on flesh conceivedbetween your wedding sheets? Why did they not tremble and callheaven down to judgment for theserpent in your bed was morepoisonous than the serpent at the Fall? And you, a god on earth, the King of Antioch,did banish…

In the Land of the Braveand the Home of the Freesympathy resides withJewish persons whilein the Fatherlandit rather resideswith the NativeU.S. population. Would the Pilgrimfathers not have thieveda continent if greetedon that distant shoreby black-robed Hasidim? Or would Adolf have refrainedfrom genocideif Vienna hadbeen peopledwith Mohicans? ©Carla Toney. The right of Carla Toney to be…

Dukkha. Anicca. Anatta. When the World-Honored Onewas seated in the posture ofsupreme bliss in the mango groveat Jetavana, he was approachedby the Venerable Subhuti.“Tell me, Lord,” inquired Subhuti,“which part of thehuman body ismost precious?” The Master replied straight awaywithout hesitation, “The feet,Venerable Subhuti, are themost precious part ofthe human body.” “And tell me why it…

In the forestbelow the fallslike my heartafter the burning,charred stumps of spruce,scarred birch and aspen,pine boughs scattered likedismembered skeletons. I thought life would nevercome again – no seed couldsurvive such devastation,but fireweed carried on the windeats into the black soot of earth,takes root in charred rock andin the spring on the wind I seepurple heads…

“Life sucks,”the Buddha said.“Today you’re borntomorrow you’re oldthe next day sick andthen you’re dead. “It’s just a miragein the deserta cool clear poolof shimmering waterbetween ever-shifting dunes of sandbut when you kneelto scoop a drinkyou end up witha mouthful of sand. “So park yourbackside on a cushion.Relax. Let go. Unwind.Just feel the breathas it whispers…

In the hearing, only the hearing. Spawned in theslime of a lily ponda green goddess,bedecked with jewelled amber eyes,reposes on her lotus throne. Mighty conqueror ofraptors that prey on human flesh,her mind one-pointed concentration,her lightning tongue vanquishes,first, a mosquito,then a fly. And, oh, how myheart fills with blissas she chants her mantra,“Kwark. Kwark. Kwark.” The…

To Richard Dipple and friends who died of AIDS. You told me you saw Jesus and the Buddha when your fever hit   a hundred and five.Since Jesus ran around with a dozen    hairy sailors I wasn’t    in the least surprised.And Sakyamuni ran out on his wife and baby through the palace kitchen door in…

Droughts, crop blights, and famines cause massive human migrations in every century. So, too, do wars and persecution. In the second half of the eighteenth century persecution and the threat of death caused British loyalists to flee from their homes, their towns, their villages. They sought sanctuary among Indigenous peoples, for Native Americans, like British…