The Disturbing Question

I slipped into a reverie;didn’t wake untilI was violently shaken upIt seemsI was in a stateof mental hibernationfor longer thanI can rememberIt makes me shudderto thinkof all the timethat passed me by without mybeing awarebut then againwho cares?No matter what I doI am headed in the samedirection of all those who preceded meand all thosewho follow meOnce you are inthere is no way out except oneonce your are out -the biggest questioneach and everyone fearand grapple withevery single day of life:What’s out there?Why hasn’t someone -Anyone?Come back to tell us?Are there no cosmic travellersnoting it down in their diariesfor posterityWe cling to ourcrucifixes,our religious relics;our dogma and our prayers;Bearded madmentumble out of the horizontheir eyes like pools waterin a deep pitThey warn usof dire consequencesif we do not pay heedto what they claimis the word of GodThey extracttheir pound of fleshexploit our weaknessesand control us through our fearsAll this happenswhile the truthmerely looks on, waits and frownson such terribleand utterly false indoctrinationsWhen the truth arriveswe will sayOh God it is right herein the hearts ; in the soulsand in the mindof each and every one of us:the ten commandments;the eight fold path;all the scriptures;the essence of humungous volumesof religious literaturethat has been writtenover the centuries,condensed into a simplecode of conducthidden under thegrimeof greed for power;for wealth; for fameand our denselydimmed sensesbut our acknowledgmentrecognition, and nurturingof the truthwill fan it aflameand the roadwill be laid bareto thosewho have opened their soulsto the supreme light

About This Poem

About the Author

Comments

bjp

16 years 10 months ago

Dear Leonard,

I found this poem forcing me onward to read, which is desirable, I think. I like much of the content of the poem. Personally, I don't think avarice, per se, is at the root of our woe although I agree that it sometimes seems so. And avarice has such a peek-a-boo relationship with the strong puritan underpinning of America. But we will not erase avarice from humanity. By other words it is nothing more than wanting to live less meanly, for oneself and for one's family. It is only in the last hundred years that the West found an abundance of calories to take life beyond subsistence, so we are rather neophiles in managing wealth judiciously and have discovered that we must ramp up the learning curve rather quickly. The world is even more newly appraising caloric wealth. I don't think the gospels' critiques of the rich (heaven through the eye of a needle, etc.) was all that useful. Christ was not infallible on economics. It was multiplied by later generations of church leaders, so much so that the prohibition on the clergy accepting interest on loans (325 A.D.) was extended to all Christians (about 1100 in England; thus, the need for Jews to do the banking and take the place of condemnation). And that failure to expand the money supply via loans was an institutional gravity favouring continued poverty over centuries. It is no surprise that the unshackling of money and the industrial revolution and the breach of the caloric deficit are all joined like triplets. But your poem is broader than this and I enjoyed reading it. Brian

leonard daranjo

16 years 10 months ago

Thank you Brian

For going through my poem and your most discerning and erudite comments from which, I must admit, I have learnt a lot. I don't know much about economics myself but I do agree that we can never erase avarice from humanity.It is still my humble opinion that it is important for some of the wealth to pour down to the more deprived sections of society so that at least a semblance - no matter how remote - of economic distribution is brought about. From where I come, poverty is perhaps at its very worst while, on the other end of the scale, we have some of the world's richest men, who couldn't give a damn about children scouring garbage dumps for food. Thanks once again. It was a pleasure. Leonard