Searching for the Gates of Wisdom
Collie Ryan
It’s a long long road my brother rides, and a long long road tonight
And a long long time a riding thru the dark and starry night.
It’s a dark dark road he travels on, and the rain don’t make it easier
To bend his mind around the corners of his sight.
He takes himself to the farthest edge of the mountain range
Thru the Halls of Learning, there to make his change
and a small child rides before him, who he found there on the road
And heaven only knows just why he came along.
With his purple cloak wrapped all around him and his hat pulled down low,
And eyes look out like eagles seeking flight.
And the small child cries with emptiness and the small child cries with fright
And the rider sings him songs to save his sight.
But his flight of fancy suddenly, is broken there direct
An old man stands before them on the trail.
Oh halt me not, the night I spin behind me like the rain
The Gates of Wisdom high, before the daylight I must gain.
But the small child cried for kindness, and the old man cried for comfort
To shelter him from emptiness and pain
So the rider turned his pony round to help him on his way
Though he knew he’d never see the Gates before the break of day.
And when he looked, the old man disappeared and in his place
There stood a man of light, He could not look him in the face
I’ve come to fetch my child, and take him back into the sea
You are the bow that sent the arrow flaming back to me.
And when he looked again, the old man disappeared.
The drizzling rain fell down around his cloak.
But soft upon the trail ahead, the Halls of Learning fade
There stand The Gates of Wisdom, for his Soul he has obeyed.
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Collie Ryan is a theosophist. She lives, paints and writes “off the grid” in Texas. Her poem “It’s a Long Long Road My Brother Rides” is also a song.
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On 14 September 2016, after examining the state of the esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to found the Independent Lodge of Theosophists. Two of the priorities adopted by the ILT are learning from the past and building a better future.
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