DAVID AND RHODA

David and Rhoda have turned twenty-five. . . .

Is there a woman or man still alive

Who remembers way back to the year ’63,

When David and Rhoda to wed did agree.

The Beatles were big, and Kennedy king

The British Invasion was quite the big thing.

We all were pre-teens, or at least pre-TM,

And David and Rhoda — what about them?

Older if not wiser, a bit more mature,

Together decided they finally were sure:

They pledged their troth, said their vows, tied the big knot,

Set out for the future, ready or not

In the year ’63, with its wedding bell chimes,

Maharishi had circled the world several times

None of us knew, or at least had not heard,

Though something within us must have been stirred,

Preparing the ground for the time to be right,

For infinity whispered, for dawning of light.

David and Rhoda, a course duly charted,

Their new life together they stalwartly started.

She moved from sciences into the arts

While the arts gave scientist David his start

Research was done, and babies appeared —

For a more or less “normal” life they seemed cleared

Seven years later, two paths converged:

Orme-Johnsons and Maharishi — and forward they surged.

Their house in El Paso served as the center

Home for all meditators wishing to enter.

First off to Humboldt, where Maharishi they met,

Then Fiuggi for TTC — more advanced yet.

They travelled to Switzerland for a two-month-long stay

Four years went by till the next USA

The new course was set, to the top they both rose

The Movement’s great leaders, as everyone knows

MIU started, they both became founders

So how do they match, these pure knowledge expounders?

He’s regal, she’s royal, she’s brilliant, he’s bright

Both minds and both hearts give out a great light.

She chortles, he chartles, she dishes, he dashes

He spreadsheets, she bedsheets, he fishes, she cashes

She’s happy he’s hubby, she’s spice in a spouse

He’s grateful she’s mateful, at home in the house

His research is global — in his work he’s a roamer

She’s mother at Hamlet . . . Mother at Homer

David plots curves, while Rhoda serves plots

He grids while she grades (but who calls the shots?)

Both study printouts (though hers are in bindings)

And both are the best at interpreting findings

Both look beyond the surface appearance,

Both look for unity, based on coherence.

She studies canons, and he studies peace

Her canons are quiet (may quiet increase)

Though he’s studied brains and she studies texts,

The goal is the same, and nature directs.

He “stats” while she “stets,” he “datas,” she “dittos,”

She Cathers, he catheters, both root for the kiddos:

They raised up four children, named Sara and Nate

They’ve raised MIU to a wholly new state

Both are great speakers — in oration they glow

Both are great teachers, as students all know

Both are great researchers — their work has informed us

Both are great friends — their closeness has warmed us

Both are great Sidhas — vast power in store

And both are great students, always open for more

David and Rhoda are globally noted

For being delightful, determined, devoted

David for psych, and Rhoda for lit,

Both for their wisdom, and both for their wit.

With David on stats and Rhoda on style

They crank out the papers, mile after mile

They guide us and pride us, amuse us, amaze us

Both teach us, both touch us, and both help to raise us.

They complement one another to perfection —

Synchrony, coherence, a perfect direction

David and Rhoda have turned twenty-five

Their collective physiology’s major, by jive:

Sitting in office, or out on the lawn

Any hour, any minute, Brahmi-Chetna could dawn.*

When Silver has doubled, and turned into Gold

May David and Rhoda be each half as old.

A “match made in heaven,” for both heart and soul —

If heaven’s the source, then it’s surely the goal.

David’s That, Rhoda’s That, all this is That —

Two sages on campus, right here in a frat.

From infinity to point, cosmos to iota

We treasure them both — and we need the full quota

And we shower all love on dear David and Rhoda.

1988

* Brahman consciousness, the highest level of unity consciousness.