Legacies of Past Pretence
How can I, how can we
Escape those legacies of past pretence?
Those lofty aspirations
That distract us
From being as we are
Becoming what we can be:
Simply needful creatures
Looking for sustenance -
No more, no less
Than what keeps us alive
Our means to love and be loved
In our passing
From cradle to grave to cradle
In each other’s continual company
.
All these human inventions
That cut us adrift:
Money, property, status, certainty
And the fear of their loss
Through holes in our defences
Passing down generations
From what’s gone before
To what comes again
In endless reiterations
.
When all that’s needed
To begin life afresh
Is to open the door
To what’s so much more
Than more of the same
Old game
That’s played within frames of arrested thought
That tumbles to nought
As its groundless assumptions
Are shown to be false
When we pause for a moment
To reflect on their source
In idol worship
.
Then to see, what it means, without doubt
To be both deep within and deep without
Our transient envelopes
Receiving what’s needed
To keep us alive
Then passing this on
Through the next open door
Who could ask for more?
.
