J is for Jail – Sangha of the Pandemic

by Angie Alkove, Waterhorse Studios

J- is for Jail. I recently visited the island of Alcatraz, California, an island only about 1.4 miles from San Francisco. Alcatraz personifies many of the most disturbing aspects of life in jail. It is set apart in treacherous waters, it is a place where little was allowed to grow, surrounded by natural and architectural beauty that was denied to its inmates. In the audio tour of the island, a man recalls how prisoners could hear the merry making of New Year’s Eve celebrations at the San Francisco Yacht club. This detail seemed to be the most painful part of life behind bars.
David Whyte writes “The world was made to be free in”. The cruelty of depression is the feeling of complete isolation. No one can understand how limiting depression is for someone else. The first time that I admitted I was depressed was one of the scariest moments of my life. I remember shaking and barely able to utter the word “depressed”. I was admitting I was in jail and I had no idea how to get out. David Whyte also speaks about articulation as a means to liberation. He says the moment you are able to describe the exact nature of your aloneness you cease feel alone. This can be an example of what some poets call the Divine Imagination. I see Divine Imagination is the understanding that we are part of ever-changing Reality that is pure Creativity, pure Genius, pure Love. Below is a poem I wrote about freedom.
Genius Loci
In this place of deeply felt sorrow
A fire burns
Love’s beckoning song prepares the ground
And Beauty finds its way in
Here my compassion flows
Its generous source renders the mind powerless
And Beauty finds its way in
Here I am broken open
By unending waves of
Life’s white beginnings
And red edges of endings
My pain
Taking root
Pushing past where I stand
Branching through the walls of this now
To where I tend this fire
I am infinities overlapping
Destination and source aligned in Being