Transmission from Doctor Jabir

ALTERED STATE

When it first comes on
It feels odd
To experience universe
From just one point of view
To navigate spacetime
In just one mind and body.

When it first comes on
It seems odd
To make one place in cosmos special
To feel one moment--now--is real.

When it first comes on
It seems strong
To be kicked out of eternity into time.
To feel suddenly ignorant and helpless
To be gripped by strange laws
Not of my own making.

When it first comes on
It feels wrong
Not to be connected to All of You
Not to experience the ever-present
Schoolyard playfulness of sentient beings.

When it first comes on
It feels long
More than twenty thousand nights
I've switched off self and still come back.
Did I fail to read the warning on the box top?
Is this the fabled Nightmare Trip that never ends?

--Doctor Jabir
February 2002