A Poet for All Four Seasons

(6/28/2008)

Most guests at the award-winning Four Seasons Resort at Jimbaran Bay have no idea that the hard-working General Manager of the Resort, John O'Sullivan, is also a man in whose heart beats a long-held Irish tradition - the love of verse and poetry.

Known to close friends as "the poet" or "the Irishman," John reacted on a number of levels to the tragic terrorist bombing of restaurants on the beach not far from his hotel on October 1, 2005. As an hotelier and the employer of hundreds of Balinese working at his Resort, he was immediately aware of the hard task ahead of rebuilding business to his hotel and the island. On another level however, John was moved emotionally by the way the Balinese-Hindus deal with death, tragedy and rebirth in their carefully balanced cosmos.

On November 5, 2005, John joined thousands of Balinese who gathered on Muaya beach in Jimbaran for a traditional Bali-Hindu cleansing ceremonies - Tawar Balik Sumpah. After that experience he sent a note, his latest poem, and some outstanding photos to balidiscovery.com.

In that note John said: "Bali is truly a spiritual place. This evening I strolled on Jimbaran beach and watched the graceful people resplendent in their warmth and somehow oblivious chronologically to the recent tragedy on their island. They and we are a resilient people and I just wanted to share with you that we are all fine; but saddened. I have received hundreds of e-mails from our extended 'Balinese Family' all over the world asking what can they we do to help. The answer is simple; please continue to support Bali and the island of the Gods. Every visitor helps to repair the pains of the past. You can delay paradise but you can never deny it. We look forward to the future in humble anticipation."

balidiscovery.com thanks the "Irishman" for his kind permission to share his poem with our readers.

of offerings cleansing of space absolves the past consecrates hope offerings made neutral energy starts over ...again another cycle auspicious potency a collision of scorched earth fast frozen in time water to beach to sky wind a mood a personality swaying in circular refracted energy procession of smiling cleansers life and soon to be offered merged back to priest to elevate the understanding the squealing animals anticipative of their path round and round they go light replacing dark with grey hues ...blurred cocks fighting to death to protect future life harshness of land to contestants fall ...stunned haemorrhaging the pain of five weeks passed to the day protection is transparent in its turgid judgement the pecalang chess board pieces that can move in any direction spiritually inclined the soul of the balinese is the child, the inner sanctuary of ageless youth not a mythological one but reborn repeatedly until all light and all force unite in cosmic splendor to an atom of one bali november 2005