Alice Marie Holden CCVI
1935-2026
In Memoriam

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ALICE

I wear a garment called Alice,
The incarnation chosen this time ’round.
In this reality seeming
like a proper woman:
Sometimes like a nun,
Sometimes like a poet
Fretting and fuming
Juggling words
To make sense of it all.

I’m comfortable enough with this garb
Though it often hides my true Self & Soul
Under layers of shoulds and oughts,
And nettings of nebulous thought.

With a precious few I choose
To de-vest.
I become self or soul,
But then forget and begin again
To appear, even to them,
Like a needy beggar.

Today I am self,
Light and joyous,
Filled with faith to move mountains
And humility to let them fall.

I look forward to the day
When I’ll shed this garb,
this worn, torn,
Tailored-print-of-self
Like a tight shoe*

And breathe a sigh of release,
Dissolving into soul.

Ah…

Alice Holden, CCVI 09/09/1999
*Ram Dass

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