To Calcifer
You go to the beach and build your castles
with sand and water and the joy of making,
of bringing something new into the world
that makes it yours.
The wind will blow drying sand away
and, grain by grain, the castle will subside,
its turrets sliding, flattening and melting
into the beach.
Your mark upon the world,
your proud monument dissolved forever.
What will remain to you when it is gone?
The joy of building
and, of course, the skill
to build another evanescent castle.
You cannot see yourself – you see reflections
and shadows,
they dance upon the waves,
reflected in the eyes of those watching.
You see reflections in these eyes and say:
“T’is I.
My shadow, my dance.
It is unique.
It’s seen and felt by you.
I am unique and I am here now.”
The eyes will close and the waters still,
the sun will die and take away the light
and shadows will go.
What will remain to you when they are gone?
The joy of dancing
and, of course, the skill
to know who you are.
Tag: self
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Sand Castles
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A Play
“All the world’s a stage…”
(W. Shakespeare)
Sit still and look.
The play develops.
It grows from the root of common knowledge.
The vessels form and fill with blood and bile.
Sighs, screams and whispers fill the air.
You run headlong into the wall of pain
and, winded by the force of impact,
stop,
doubled up,
just breathing.
You cry and laugh in turn and in-between.
Pain, imperceptibly, becomes a habit
but so does the joy –
both dulled by usage.
The actor’s voice,
still raised in imprecation,
commands attention
and, of course, you listen…
But now mostly listen to the silence
that is to come.
The play will soon be over. -
Point of View
What is it that makes us human?
Is it soul,
technology,
the use of handkerchiefs
or two types of forks?
I think it is language, for it gives us empathy;
the ability to see through other’s eyes
and hence the ability to see something truly new.
Look through the eyes of an artist – it will give you the joy of creating a world.
Look through the eyes of history – it will give you the desire for changing the world.
Look through the eyes of a child – it will give you a reason for changing yourself. -
Consciousness
Consciousness – the delusion of continuity in time and space,
the miracle of a pile of stuff becoming self-aware,
the shadowy realm on the border of semantics giving us hope. -
Campfire Stories
Fear – the most atavistic of our instincts.
Fear of others robs us of our kindness by becoming aggression.
Fear of loss robs us of our freedom by becoming routine.
Fear of death robs us of our dignity by becoming religion.
Fear is why there is nothing more important
than the illusion that monsters do not exist
by the camp-fire in the night. -
Synaesthesia
There are times in life when synaesthesia becomes inescapable,
when water smells like lead and feels blue…
when you forget what things are supposed to be and –
just for a second –
perceive some of what they are…
or – a more frightening thought –
you forget what you are supposed to be… -
Our worlds
As each of us is unique, each has a potential world unique to oneself.
A world where one is genuine, and passionate, and in love…
not quite with oneself, but rather with one’s potential,
with one’s capacity to inhabit it fully and honestly, without fears and excuses.
Some of us are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this world and even share its reflection.
Most of us yearn for it and wither and die inside for the lack of it… -
Enter At Your Own Risk
Ontogenesis repeats phylogenesis…
As in individual psyche,
when the walls we have built in our cultures start cracking,
the horrors from the past come through
and remind us of a large part of who we are.
Enter at your own risk… -
Contemporary Fairy Tales
I dislike contemporary fairy tales…
Not the folk tales they are often based on –
they were the tools for understanding the world,
and true to it.
They were about love and indifference,
loyalty and betrayal,
blood, sweat, tears, joy and laughter.
They were about making decisions and growing up…
Contemporary fairy tales are almost exactly the opposite:
fairy dust glitters,
wishes come true,
everyone remains infantile and lives happily ever after…
The only things they teach are entitlement and disappointment.
Have you ever met a bride whose wedding
lived up to her expectations?