Poetry
Zavik’s initiation
Free
A poem for a man in our block who had stopped drinking for five hundred days when it was written — one of the verses Bernard writes to be, in his words, alchemic, and to open the heart.
There's a man in our block Who has magical abilities He can pull rabbits out of the ground And even sing songs in ice cold water
His clothes can be outlandish With all kinds of mystical tools hanging on his body He is known to appear in the moonlight Surrounded by angelic beings
When he shouts the earth trembles There is no doubt about his power He has a sword made of wood That befits such a dude
He wakes up before sunrise To help that ball of fire meet the day And at night he hangs his clothes on the moon To gather moon light
He is a magical being I say If you wake up early You will see his shadow flitting amongst the trees As he gathers his potions and perfumes Which he scatters behind him As he walks
He can fix anything Just ask Rumi The master locksmith Who surely knows The ways of alchemy
500 days of abstinence Is a golden thread That weaves through your life And pulls together all the bits and pieces Of a life well lived.
Dr Bernard Brom
Founder, Creating Health
Bernard Brom qualified in medicine in 1965. He gave it up, travelled for six years, and came back to spend the next sixty asking one question: how does health actually work? He founded the South African Society of Integrative Medicine, chaired it, started its first journal, wrote two books — and still sees a few patients every week, "to stay in touch with the territory."
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