.
Balance
.
In everything we do, there is a need
For balance. Each of us is graced by this:
A sense, in part innate, of balance points
And also of our distances from these.
Our acts and lives are guided by this sense.
.
And surely much depends on circumstance,
And varies with the person and the clan,
But when we move away from balance, then
We almost always yield to yin or yang
And so disturb whatever peace there was
Within us and around us, causing grief
That could at times be lethal, yet not end,
As utter madness blinds and overwhelms
Constraints of ethics and of common sense.
.
Affection, anger, fear, desire have each
Their places in our lives. Excess of each—
Or paucity—can lead to endless woes.
So also, reason has its rightful place,
But not the logic that neglects the heart.
.
So how is balance lost—and how regained?
We each have senses, starting with the five
We learn about in school, but not confined
To those alone. By shutting down a sense
For reasons of our own, we lose the touch
And input needed to correct ourselves—
Connections with the world “outside” those selves
And also with the “inner world within”.
It is as if we've turned away from sight.
.
We need to then regain the senses lost—
And this takes courage and can cause us pain
That must be borne, so we are born again—
Ejected from the wombs we crept back in
To face the world—with all its light and sin.
.
2024 June 27th, Thu.
Berkeley, California
.
Balance
.
In everything we do, there is a need
For balance. Each of us is graced by this:
A sense, in part innate, of balance points
And also of our distances from these.
Our acts and lives are guided by this sense.
.
And surely much depends on circumstance,
And varies with the person and the clan,
But when we move away from balance, then
We almost always yield to yin or yang
And so disturb whatever peace there was
Within us and around us, causing grief
That could at times be lethal, yet not end,
As utter madness blinds and overwhelms
Constraints of ethics and of common sense.
.
Affection, anger, fear, desire have each
Their places in our lives. Excess of each—
Or paucity—can lead to endless woes.
So also, reason has its rightful place,
But not the logic that neglects the heart.
.
So how is balance lost—and how regained?
We each have senses, starting with the five
We learn about in school, but not confined
To those alone. By shutting down a sense
For reasons of our own, we lose the touch
And input needed to correct ourselves—
Connections with the world “outside” those selves
And also with the “inner world within”.
It is as if we've turned away from sight.
.
We need to then regain the senses lost—
And this takes courage and can cause us pain
That must be borne, so we are born again—
Ejected from the wombs we crept back in
To face the world—with all its light and sin.
.
2024 June 27th, Thu.
Berkeley, California
.
