The Four Seasons Finale ~ The Great North Wind Confronts the Great East Wind

Author Note

I

 11 November 2013

Written originally In tribute to the great Iroquois and all Native

American Peoples

and to the People of the Philippines in this grievous hour

~ 11 November 2013.

II

13 October 2022

It seems to me that on this thirteenth day of October, in the year of our

Lord (if you go by the Christian Calendar) 2022,

that the Natural Disaster in the Philippines on 11 November 2013,

is overshadowed, as the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine

take on the might of another vicious Great East Wind.

III

For those who have brought this about, for one man in particular,

there is a way out.

IV

But let us look beyond that benighted, hapless individual,

and look to the day when the People of the East

see what has been done, apparently, in their Name,

into an Abyss

into which they have been deliberately and mischievously taken.

V

In 1939, another man did a terrible thing, apparently, in the Name of another Great People.

In time, that Nation found its way back from the Abyss into which

it had been deliberately and mischievously taken.

VI

Now, as then, those two peoples have been very willing to do the East’s bidding.

VII

While I, therefore, do not wish to change the stanza format, or original

subject content, it is not difficult to read this Finale to The Four Seasons

(written in 2009-2010 and published as part of Meanderings in October 2011),

as a very direct tribute

to the Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine,

their democratic institutions and government,

their Capital Kyiv,

and all of their Ukrainian Armed Forces,

and, above all, their Head of State and Wartime Leader

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the First Lady of Ukraine

and

of all and every Family both in Ukraine and forced to seek refuge beyond their borders.

Слава Україні

Glory to Ukraine

---

THE FORCES OF NATURE CONTEND

The Grace of Summer and Autumn, with their brothers the Great North Wind, the Great South Wind, the Great West Wind, and their troublesome and vindictive Sibling, the Great East Wind

I

East recoiled, seething.

Back and Forth,

Swirling,

Unable to find any place

to rest his apocalyptic mind.

How dare my brother North

rebuke me.

I am the EAST Wind!

 

I go where I please.

I do what I will.

I do not even know the

confines of the cycles

that rule and dictate

my stupid sisters!

How dare he threaten me!

Who does he think he is?

Does he think that because he comes

from the north that such a position

gives him authority?

And how dare he speak to me

in front of Autumn and Winter,

belittling me.

I will have him!

I will have him and my brothers

West and South too,

the weaklings that they are!

I, the great East Wind, can take on

all three lesser winds

They do as I the Great East Wind says.

They go where I dictate!

They occupy the lands and seas and skies

only after I have vacated!

And what stupidity with my sister Autumn!

What prattle about having thought

for people, lands, and seasons?!

The stupid girl!

I defy her.

and I will blow

such a tempestuous wave upon her

I will incestuously deal with her,

rape her,

and leave her naked!

I will blast the countryside.

I will seek out every nook and cranny,

And snatch the

hearts and glimmers

of light

from every cowering mortal,

and I will suff them out.

And so arrogant East

summoned Oyandone,

the Mighty Moose,

Guardian of the Eastern Sky.

Oyandone

And so arrogant East

summoned Oyandone

the mighty Moose,

Guardian of the

Eastern Sky.

View fullsize

View fullsize

Come Oyandone!

We have work to do.

Destruction to wreak!

Vengeance to seek!!

And you will do my work,

and you will trample.

You will squeeze the very life

out of whoever,

and whatever,

lies in your path.

You will use your mighty horns.

There will be no mercy.

Do you hear me?!!?

Oyandone stamped his hoof

and roared into the air,

but felt disquiet, too;

he might incur the wrath

of Gaoh,

Mighty Keeper of the Wind.

Winter

Winter, seated upon the glacier,

peered across the mighty ocean.

My brother, East

I sense you are disquieted.

Be silent sister…!!

Do not tell ME to be silent

you impudent sibling!

You are but my breath,

My thought,

My desire.

I will freeze you

if you dare to defy me.

The roar of Oyandone filled the heavens,

swirling the air into a cavorting typhoon.

Brother!

I demand that you hold back

and leave your revenge to me.

I am your elder sister.

I am your life!

I begat you!!

You did not beget me!!!

Now stand aside,

And I will deal with our brother

North.

East unleashed a sheen of icy wind

that took even Winter’s breath away;

Losing her grip on the ice she had formed,

sending her crashing down the glacier,

creating a deadly Tsunami

that would have landfall across the sea

A hundred leagues away.

For good measure, he slapped

his sister hard across the face;

and tittered, as he watched

a Liner roll up and over

the gigantic wave

… then seemed to pause…

Befor its descent sideways down the other side.

And with the lightest flick of finger

on the stern,

The East Wind rolled the great Liner thrice over,

Sending her to oblivion within seconds

Survivors, none.

The huge Liner keels over … …

… Winter

Winter regaining herself

threw off her Mantle

striding the heavens

to meet East head on

… Winter smashed him back

full force

and took the charge of Oyandone's horns

driving her back...

Her feet missing landfall.

Yaogah

Guardian of the Northern Hemisphere and territories,

and Companion to The Great North Wind

bellowed and roared.

North looked up

from quiet slumber …

Yaogah

The Great Bear

Guardian of the Northern Sky

bellowed forth and roared…

North looked up

from restful slumber,

His mane preparing

to carry him

on the Wings of Gaoh,

Mighty Keeper of the Wind

Gaoh, Second only

to the very essence of Spirit and Life eternal.

The Great North Wind

looked up from restful slumber,
His mane preparing to carry him on the Wing’s of Gaoh, Mighty Keeper of the Wind

Gaoh

Mighty Keeper of the Wind

Second only to the very essence of Spirit and Life, eternal.

With lightning speed,

North moved against

the Great East Wind

thrusting his neck down

upon his brother East

striking him between the legs,

as Yaogah crashed into him

and ripped off a part of him,

denuding him.

East fought back

with a power so strong,

Yaogah was off guard, caught

And Oyandone, East’s Companion

buried his horns deep

Yoagah’s side.

 

North sluiced round

and thwacked Oyandone,

cracking off a great antler,

and striking East

full in the face.

 

Blood ran!

And down below,

five thousand more

perished in the greatest storm

in living memory,

in an instant.

 

Nations recoiled.

Lights burned into the night hours

in a thousand capitals,

Governments front and back-channelled

with each other,

mobilizing forces,

launching fleets,

sending out distress columns,

unaware that the worst

was not yet even started.

South and West,

Warm-blooded brothers

playing happily in the sands of the Sahara,

glanced suddenly in perfect unison

as the Naoga, Fawn and companion of South,

and Dajoji, Panther and companion of West

raced towards them

in great haste, agitated.

The Great South Wind

South placed his hand upon

the feline’s muzzle,

caressing and staring into her eyes.

What is it my beauty?

Why are you shaking Naoga?

 

West ran his hand over his Panther’s sheen,

and felt Dajoji trembling.

My brother something’s amiss

I fear there is battle again.

They glanced towards the Philippines... ... ...

South read the thoughts of Neoga,

as West continued to stroke and calm

Dajoji.

Oh brother there is trouble indeed!

East has rebelled

and thrashed our sister Winter

and he has unleashed

the great Moose Oyandone

and already thousands have died!

And he has taken our beautiful sister Autumn,

stripped her naked,

and raped her.

The lands from the Steppes to the Pacific are laid waste.

Look across at Kherson, Mariupol, Kharkiv.

They are bare.

Look at what he has tried to do on Capitol Hill!

Her garments cast aside and guttered.

Dajoji

Let out a mighty roar of indignation

West held him in check.

 

Calm, calm my beauty, still yourself…

stroking the gorgeous Panther

now shimmering

with an anger and a terror

that strained to be unleashed.

Oh West, how could Gaoh

The Mighty Keeper of us all

permit this?

Do you realize what will happen?

My brother...

South replied

with fear as he stroked

the softness of Neoga...

it does not bear thinking about.

We must away now!

Confront him

Catch him and bring him to heel.

Where is he West?

 

Look! Across your hemisphere

He is fighting with North above

The Philippines!

With a great roar West unleashed Dajoji,

racing alongside him.

 

As South removed the gentle leash from Neoga

and set her running in a wide vanguard,

she galloped through the skies

bringing warmth

and sun to all the lands

calming the oceans,

stopping even to gently nudge

stricken cities into the warmth of sunlight

before galloping and springing, as only Naoga could do.

 

Autumn in trance and daze,

seemingly lifeless,

and resting upon a rock

Ravaged in a way that Neoga had never seen before...

The Grace of Summer

Summer came striding by,
long-legged,
Beautiful,
Empress of the Skies…

… Fear not Neoga

My sister Autumn rests awhile.

WE will deal with this!

Summer came striding by, long-legged,

Beautiful, an Empress of the Skies…

in Royal Pageant and Splendour

a Regality that touched the very hearts

of all,

natural,

supernatural.

Fear not Neoga

My sister, Autumn, rests awhile

WE will deal with this.

Cradling her face she whispered …

Grace of Summer

Rest awhile and gather yourself, Autumn

You are the Glory of Fall.

Come.Your season is ended for now.

Take solitude in your hibernation,

Feel my warmth and tender caress,

And know that Dajoji and Neoga and Yaogah

will guard your door

until your safe return.

Autumn stirred and caught a glimpse

of horrors untold.

Come, sister,

Stop shaking.

East will pay for this I swear.

If Gaoh hears of this he will take

matters into his own hands!

And if that be the case,

then all of us know, full well,

This will spell the End.

Autumn’s single tear ran down …

She could not speak

but lifted a fair hand

to stroke the side of Summer’s

long flowing garments

and cautiously smiled

as Neoga nuzzled her breast

catching a glimpse of Summer's long-flowing train

across the Ocean.

Go!

commanded Summer.

And Autumn,

so departed.

NAOGA, continuing her vanguard movement,

swept around from the lower earth,

closing in upon the Philippines,

and to her horror saw a battle

the like of which she had not seen in centuries,

not since the Flood.

Her mighty brother North,

locked in combat with their brother East

both covered in blood,

North’s entrails hanging

And Oyandone’s throat held

in a vice-like grip by Yaogah.

South drew up his loins to cut across

the flank,

racing through his brother’s

arrogant east trade winds,

tearing them asunder,

and alas the ships and planes en route

for distant destinations.

Neoga, again, moved in on his vanguard

she brought warmth to benighted nations.

The Great South Wind swirled above the wreckage of a Liner,

Shocked and dismayed by the utter destruction,

and blew softly on the flotsam of tenders

turning upright capsized boats there and here...

and doing that which he dreaded doing most of all... ...

Requesting that his father Gaoh might assist him.

But Gaoh, Mighty Master of the Winds

in a Universal Gathering

before the Great Being of the Skies

did not hear him.

But the Spirit, most surely, did …

The Spirit

… … … …

and without Gaoh’s knowledge

quietly returned departing spirits,

or laid to rest in broad sunlit uplands

the spirits already departed.

The Spirit breathed life in abundance,

when at the Most High Ancient of Day’s

summoning,

they would awaken again

and, forever live.

East looked across menacingly,

seeing his brothers on the horizon.

He caught them unawares

whipping them all into a frenzy,

a great circular motion.

Now all four winds swirled in a vortex

of fear, death, and destruction

as they fought each other to the death.

And still, Gaoh remained at Court,

unaware,

but also silenced by the Great Being.

And tell me Gaoh

Mighty Keeper of the Winds.

How goes it this day?

How have you been spending your time?

Oh, Great One

I have been keeping check

and maintaining watch across the skies.

You know that, of course, oh Great One.

Indeed

But perhaps it is time to return.

What say you, Gaoh?

Gaoh followed the gaze

with sudden apprehension.

and went pale … …

Thousands turned their gaze from Him

for they knew that The Most High

and Gaoh

and The Spirit

were now in that Most Secret Place.

They knew only that the Seasons had been outwitted,

and their brothers,

All four winds

now in mortal combat

Already, a string of islands denuded,

Fatalities on a scale unimagined.

North

The Great North Wind

his Mane

scalped from him

Image Courtesy of Dragan Ražnatović and Dex Isaias - all rights reserved to them and to the Photographer

Gaoh moved...

but the Great Being descended unto earth

as in a lightning strike,

exploding the eye of the storm

and in an instant, it passed,

and nations, the world over, glanced at each other in great fear.

Das große Wesen | The Great Being

Who is this?
That even the winds and seas obey Him?

East

a desultory being...bedraggled, defeated, stared into an Abyss of his own making …

North South East West

Return!

 

In His piercing gaze, their wounds were healed in an instant.

And by Summons

Gaoh appeared beside Him a moment later

A lesser, but no less fearsome, lightning strike...

Yet such that seemed to signal to the world

that the worst was over.

 

Gaoh, come!

Walk with Me in the Garden awhile.

We will speak, you and I.

Already the healing has begun.

But this is a terrible thing to have been done

by East.

He is your son.

You must keep him in check.

For to do otherwise will leave Me no alternative

but to abandon this realm,

leave it to die,

And I will bring life elsewhere

to another part of my endless Kingdom.

Now you Gaoh,

Great Keeper of the Wind.

I appoint you also Great Warrior of the Skies.

And you will have whatever is required of Me

to stay the hand of jealousy and envy,

to protect the Cycle of the Seasons

My daughters

Winter,

Spring,

Summer,

and Autumn

Oyandone,

Yaogah

Dajoji

and Neoga

rested at His feet...

sensing peace returning to them,

Restoring their wounds, even.

The Great Being of the Skies caught a glimpse of East

staring back,

An unkempt desultory youth...

bedraggled, defeated,

stared into an Abyss within himself

of his own making … … …

Gaoh leave us awhile.

I will walk with East.

Send Oyandone to Us

when we reach the summit

of the Great Mountain.

I will restore them there

and return them to you.

And the Great Being

looked out across the Universe

and received unto Himself

the Petitions from a benighted People,

His People,

All races, creeds, colours, religions,

A Petition

by the Peoples of the Earth

to Gaoh The Great Keeper of the Wind,

and to the Great Being in the Skies,

and to the

Most High Ancient of Days

through the

Ruach HaKodesh

and

by His Grace,

their Salvation.

O Great Being In the Skies

The Portrait is by the Artist J Campos to whom all rights are reserved

A Prayer of Offering

by

the Iriquois and the People of Ukraine on behalf of the Planet,

of Nature,

and its subordinate

Humankind.

O Great Being in the Skies

I beseech you grant the spirits

Of our ancestors the rite of

Passage to this our brother

To see him cross to you on the other side.

As the Crow stands in the morning mist

And lifts its wings on high

In salute of your Presence,

May the Four Winds

Hold forth

And grant mercy to my People,

And to allow us safe passage, too,

To our Northern Reservation.

 

Great Spirit

I beseech You to breathe into

My brother the Breath of your

Unending life

Let him sense and feel

within his lungs again

The Cool morning air,

The Mist of the evening,

The Darkness of nightfall.

And to see the spirits of our

Forefathers

In humble quietude before You.

 

Oh Great Being

Take up the Spear

Take up the Blade

And vindicate us,

Your people,

for the terror

That has been afflicted upon us,

Upon our womenfolk

Our children,

And our children’s children

And their children afore, our Ancestors.

Sweep the Comfort of Your Eyes

O Great Being in the Skies,

Upon all our Ancestors

Upon all our Descendants

Upon all Humankind

without distinction,

without preference,

without judgment,

And I do, so humbly beseech You

Take back to the beginning of time

All the wrongdoings of our Peoples

All the right doings of our Peoples

And cleanse us with the coolness

Of the mountain stream

which is the very Breath

of Your Unending Spirit.

 

Take upon Yourself

My own heart, despite my youth,

Me the chieftain of this ancient tribe

Bearing upon my shoulders

The pain of battle

Of disease and of wrongfooting

With You, O Great One.

 

May You, by your Countenance

Bring to us the healing,

The replenishment,

The life giving.

Let us see again the Fawn dance,

The Panther hold back,

The Great Bear withheld,

The Moose standing firm.

 

Accept unto Your Spirit

These tokens and offerings

Of my People.

This smoke that we send up to You

That it may warm You,

And please You,

And that thereby You will warm

Our Tepee,

Our encampments,

And safeguard our livestocks,

And our horses,

And protect all our families.

My warriors perform this war dance

Before You O Great Being in the Skies.

May it please You.

May You dance with us.

May my brothers and sisters

See Your Aura.

May my Wife see the pureness of Your jou

through my eyes.

 

Accept this music I send up to you

From this pipe,

And may You grant that we will

Sit down again

With our former enemies

And smoke together the pipe of peace

And reconciliation

And see the abundance of our Faith.

 

 

 

In tribute to the great Iroquois and all Indigenous

American Peoples

and now to

The Sovereign Nation and People of Ukraine

Слава Україні

Glory to Ukraine

A Petition by the Peoples of the Earth to Gaoh The Great Master of the Wind and to the Great Being in the Skies and to the Most High Ancient of Days through the Ruach HaKodesh and by His Grace, Salvation

October 13, 2023
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