The Comfortable Civilization ( II )
(excerpted from my forthcoming book Verses For The People)
When the mind
Was young
And ready
To learn
To fight
To stand
Up for that something
Higher than our arms
We were taught
To duck and
To deal with
Every passing blow '
The mind is worse
The psyche slides
When ideas aim to soar '
The apparent is the truth
Forget about the core
Everything is relative
We were told '
Every altar colored red and
To be left alone cold -
With shame we never
Dared climb beyond the fold
And hopped our way
To Gold '
Faster, higher, stronger
The body could go '
But the mind had
Lessons to learn
Legion things to run
Bills to pay
A livelihood to earn '
Consider all points of view
And then much else to do.
Its taken a while to come
But finally I'm ready
I've closed the lids
And opened my eyes
Deep within
Staked my creed
On the axiom
But I know one
Glimpse is all I'll need
Now when
The soul is eager
To gain its higher ground
Lost over the time,
In wilderness, wasting around -
The spirit is willing
But the body is soft
Unable
To hold the head aloft
Every cell buried in sense
The flesh is killing
Me softly
With its sins.
Meaningful