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Mysteries Of The Pyramids

by Josh Haden

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  • Mysteries Of The Pyramids Chapbook

    Mysteries Of The Pyramids in chapbook form, printed on antique grey linen-finished paper with goldenrod vellum cover. Limited first edition printing of 50 numbered copies, signed by Josh Haden.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mysteries Of The Pyramids via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
2.
It’s Nice To Be Desired Waking up underneath A green lake; I can’t breathe. It’s nice to be desired. Thieves go on a murderous rampage. The innocent are imprisoned. The light’s too bright; I can’t see. I lay down to rest, I close my eyes. Although I’m tired I can’t sleep. Awake, I have dreams Which I can’t remember.
3.
The Chapel In The Grove Grapevines wind their way Along the outer walls And up from underneath the well-worn Floorboards of the old Chapel in the grove. Long ago A preacher stood at his Pulpit every Sunday And spoke to the parish About the mysterious Workings of God. Everything happens for A reason, he said to them. Who are we to call into doubt God’s existence When things don’t go our way? Longing and hope Are joined together Hand in hand with despair, And with happiness too, He said. Now the chapel is empty. I remember One summer The preacher presided Over a wedding In the Chapel The bride was dressed in white, And the groom wore a dark green suit, With a blue flower in its lapel. We are gathered here, The preacher said, To bring together in holy matrimony This man and woman as Husband and wife. If there be any objections, Please speak now. Today the windows of the chapel Are all boarded up. Outside a single acacia tree Still stands, Ancient as time itself, Its roots planted deeply in the ground.
4.
Mysteries Of The Pyramids The answers are written In hieroglyphics, Worn down by sand and the wind. Symbols for strength here, For eternal life, there. The archaeologist Struggles to decipher them.
5.
The Apple 00:36
The Apple Round and Sitting on my desk. A sticker proclaims: ‘Produce Of U.S.A.’ Red sunbeams Sprout from the center. Veins of green Run down the sides. Outside it is a new moon The first day of the new month. The light from a sixty-watt bulb Reflects against the apple’s waxy surface.
6.
Today 00:42
Today Someday The clouds which Cover the eye of the sun Will part. Someday I will be cured Of my selfishness. Someday The enlightenment I strive for Will appear before me. Someday My soul will once again be able to Fly through the air. Someday I will finally let go of My anger, my despair, My jealousy, and my longing. Someday, But not today.
7.
Nicotine 00:19
Nicotine The woman who Smokes tobacco From a cigarette Is seen in a vision by The man who Smokes tobacco From a peace pipe
8.
Backslider 01:22
Backslider Today I walked Underneath the sun And the beautiful blue sky Criss-crossed by thin white lines In the upper atmosphere I thought to myself Why do I have to feel this way Why can’t I be satisfied With the beauty of the day And how good it feels To walk amongst the trees. Why is the urge To revert to my old ways So powerful? Why must I feel so discontent So untrusting of myself Bent on self-destruction. But I never lost my urge To believe in you. Sometimes I think to myself This feeling of emptiness And yearning will pass But it doesn’t. Then I think, Just be patient 
This feeling will go away. And then it does. Then it returns.
9.
Money 00:43
Money In ancient times Orchids were used As currency. Roses were gold. Daffodils were silver. Poinsettias were diamonds. 
The customer Cashing in his roses For orchids Slighted at the register Short changed Three petals And one stem Says to himself To err is divine To forgive is human.
10.
Utcha-aãb, Discriminator Of Purity I never ask myself Why I was born. Outside of their control, My father and my mother Were brought together In a particular time and In a particular place. Utcha-aãb, Discriminator Of Purity, Guided a particular sperm of my father’s Into a particular egg of my mother’s For a particular purpose. This is how it is for all living beings, With Utcha-aãb, Discriminator Of Purity, Going ‘round to protect his eggs.
11.
Book Of The Living Some say In order to die One must first live. Others say In order to live One must first die. Our coffins are decorated With scenes from the Book of the Living.
12.
A Key Guaranteed To Fit A Certain Lock Once I dreamt I had to choose Between three Different roads. One road led to money One road led to love And one road led to free will. I first took the road to money And after I reached its end I found I was back exactly Where I had started. I took the road to love And after I reached its end I found I was back exactly Where I had started. Finally, I took the road to free will And after I reached its end I again found I was back exactly Where I had started. I thought there were no more roads To choose from Until I turned around And there was a fourth road. This road didn’t lead to money, Love, or free will. Its entrance was black as night. After I stepped across the threshold I found I was in the middle of a Field of golden flowers. A beautiful woman With black hair And skin of alabaster Smiled at me And handed me A key guaranteed to fit a certain lock. The rays of the sun Came upon us like a million butterflies Destined to land on a stele made of chlorite. And then I realized I had dreamt all of this before, The road, the field of golden flowers, The woman with skin of alabaster, the key, Even the million butterflies. And I thought to myself What makes me remember Certain dreams and forget Others.
13.
Poppies In A Wine Flask Three poppies, One red, two white, Emerge from a blue Wine flask. An unknown artist applies Paint to canvas. Galileo Waking from a dream Steps onto his balcony at Arcetri. He can feel the sun revolving around the earth. He dreamt the Ottomans had laid siege to Candia. A ship sinks in the Mediterranean Sea Its cargo lost forever Investors lose money. The master forger Creates an anonymous work Sold at auction in Rome. Wind blows through Bare branches of an olive tree. Nothing can be known Of a God which is unknown.
14.
Negative Confession He who says he knows God Will never know God. Don’t waste your time Trying to teach him About enlightenment. Or worse, Humoring him by listening To his speeches About enlightenment. Instead Seek out he who says He doesn’t know God. He who says Furthermore One can never know God In God’s entirety. He wakes up in the middle of the night And can’t fall back asleep. He makes a wrong turn And then another. His recklessness Is the pathway To enlightenment.
15.
Pythagoras At The Monochord A reed flute can be heard From the center of the pyramid. We all can claim to hear The word of God But only the neophyte Can hear the notes. Religiosity and spirituality Cannot be separated And this is how I know. The act of listening to music
Is the act of listening to God They say God created The world and everything in it. God created the beginning and Ending of time. God created all musical instruments All forms of musical notation God created all rhythms God created all melodies God created all songs themselves. Don’t think for a moment God doesn’t know your beginning And ending. To God the world began And the world ended in an instant. The intervals of your life Have been divided equally Along the single string Between the two bridges Of the monochord.
16.
The Holy Women At The Sepulchre Why look among the dead for someone who is living? Why look among the living for someone who is dead? Ani makes his preparations. Let him come forth from the multitudes. The Son of Man knew, Ahead of time, Who would believe in Him And who would betray Him. This is why He told his disciples No one could come to Him Except through the will Of the Father. Love will be found within love. Hate will be found within hate. The holy woman Lifts her veil. She is pure of mind. Ani will come forth by day To do his will Amongst those Who live.
17.
God Is A Woman God is Omnipotent Omniscient The creator of Everything seen And unseen. Human beings are Powerless Devoid of knowledge Creators of nothing. God, by definition, is beyond human. Humans, by definition, are irrevocably human. Therefore If God is a man It’s just as likely God is a woman. Genesis says: "God made man in his own image." Could it be this "image" Is not that of the physical, But of the soul-image The spirit-image Of God Reflected by God Onto all of us. God is a woman.
18.
Only God 01:39
Only God No good or bad; only God. No right or wrong; only God. No love or hate; only God. No honesty or dishonesty; only God. No act of violence. No act of kindness. No act of selfishness. No act of selflessness. No act of cowardice. No act of courage. No downfall. No redemption. No life. No afterlife. Only God. It has been said God is everywhere and in everything. God is outside and inside you. Every word you speak comes from God. Therefore When you speak, God speaks. When you say "no faith"; God. When you say "no hope"; God. When you say "no chance"; God. When you say "no God"; God. Only God.
19.
A Man Calls For War A man calls for war A man calls for peace A man calls for death A man calls for life A man calls for hate A man calls for love A man calls for fate A man calls for chance A man calls for finitude A man calls for eternity A man calls for pragmatism A man calls for justice A man calls for sound A man calls for silence A man calls for reality A man calls for beauty A man calls for violence A man calls for pacifism A man calls for intelligence A man calls for enlightenment A man speaks up A man speaks down There they can be found From the beginning of time A man calls for war
20.
God Created Capitalism If there is a God And God Is the creator of everything Seen and unseen Then it logically follows that God created Capitalism God created Fascism God created Communism God created Socialism God created Anarchism It logically follows that God created Democracy God created Aristocracy God created Oligarchy God created Monarchy God created Theocracy God created dictatorship God created authority God created submission God created conformity God created ignorance God created indifference God created resistance God created revolution God created enlightenment God created evolution God created a way up God created a way down God created a way in God created a way out God created Capitalism
21.
Gone From Thinking To Praying Gone from thinking to praying Gone from knowing to dreaming Gone from certitude to emptiness Gone from determination to surrender Gone from expression to impression Gone from willfulness to impairment Gone from language to deciphering Gone from freedom to following Gone from belief to faith Gone from the soul to the spirit Gone from embodiment to the mist Gone from prediction to dereliction Gone from certainty to forgetfulness Gone from stability to sincerity Gone from lost to found Gone from faith to sound Gone from thinking to praying
22.
We All Come From God We all come from God That's what they say Others say Only one comes from God He's supposed to show us the way Others say None come from God There is no God Its obvious they say Still others say There are many Gods Each God a symbol Of another origin from which we came I say In a newborn child Is the symbol For the beginnings of all life From the seedling To the star From an idea To its fruition All that lives Must be born Their beginnings surround us We all come from God
23.
The Hawk And The Cross Sun shines down On an ancient village. The citizenry Go about their business. Atop a cross, A hawk With wingspan seven cubits wide And the head of a bennu bird Devours a crow alive. Trapped underneath its talons The crow makes no sound As its flesh is ripped away And its feathers fall to the ground. Several other crows And even a finch-lark With a great cacophony Of screams and cries Attempt to attack the hawk They get close but never make contact. The citizenry below With single-minded determination Ignore the distraction above. The great hawk unafraid Spreads its wings architrave And takes flight Bringing along its now-dead prey within its claws. Ten crows chase after it Their gestures threatening violence still-futile. The hawk flies West In a lumbering gait Then crosses back North towards the mountains Flying ever higher Towards the sun. The higher it gets The more the crows drift away Until the hawk is almost indiscernible Against the sky And three crows Become two The last crow Gives up and flies away to the East And the hawk With wingspan seven cubits wide And the head of a bennu bird Disappears on the other side of the horizon.

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released May 18, 2015

Poems by Josh Haden

Josh Haden - vocals and bass

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Josh Haden Los Angeles, California

I play bass and sing in a band called Spain. www.spaintheband.com

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