Poem: Changes 64/Before Completion

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The transition from disorder to order
Is not yet complete—
You walk with the caution of a fox

Over rotten ice,
Ears tuned to the cracking of the ice
Or a rumble from below.

As mother nature
Puts the knife to your back,
You glide circumspectly across the safe spots.

Fire over water
Is the image before the transition,
Where everything settes into place.

If you wish to achieve an effect
Investigate the nature of the force
In question and ascertain its proper place.

If you bring these forces to bear on target,
They will have the desired effect
And completion will be achieved.

But to handle external forces properly,
You must arrive at the correct standpoint yourself.
Only from this vantage can you work.

You brakes the wheels.
The time to act has not yet come.
You must have a vehicle

To make the crossing
—Patience in the highest sense—
Means putting on the brakes.

A new situation must be created.
You engage the energies of able helpers
So this fellowship can take the decisive step

And cross the great water
Into the Devil's Country.
The sun shines forth in redoubled beauty

And the new era appears
All the more glorious by contrast
With the misery of the old.

We must be in heaven.
I don't see many people,
But the animals are all here, reporting for duty.
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