As the end of the year approaches, I wanted to share a poem with a spiritual dimension. But, as the piece I selected is particularly Californian in its brand of spirituality, it is playful, mystical and non-denominational. Indeed, it might even be considered hippie-ish. It is an easy poem to keep in one’s head while one travels among crowds or dines with the relatives,such as occurs during the Holidays.
The poem was written by poet and filmmaker James Broughton, pictured above, a precursor to the Beat poets and friend to such luminaries as professor Alan Watts and photographer Imogen Cunningham. Many of his films explored the body, often with persistence. Hermes Bird (1979), for instance, takes a close look at an erection with a camera designed to document atomic bomb explosions.
Perhaps his most famous poem is the one that reads as follows:
This is It
This is It
and I am It
and You are It
and so is That
and He is It
and She is It
and It is It
and That is ThatO it is This
and it is Thus
and it is Them
and it is Us
and it is Now
and Here It is
and Here We are
so This is It