Oblivion

Woke.

A fresh moniker for all who see themselves as newly enlightened;

As if our enlightenment is somehow more profound, historic, and disruptive

than any previous individual or collective recognition of life and reality.

Revelations abound, seemingly without limit.

Insights are being born into our consciousness every day.

Wisdom, no longer hidden, is coming to light.

We see it!

A New Age is dawning!

Again.

“There is nothing new under the sun.”

Yet every day, every moment,  is a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning.

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

You can choose to come near to life while others choose to remain distant.

The planet is shrinking.

The planet is dying.

The planet is long overdue for immeasurable cataclysmic events.

You can choose.

Freak out about the possibilities of death and disaster,

Or

Stop and smell the roses,

Or

Put all your senses on full alert

to inhale, absorb, learn, find, consume, enjoy

every infinitesimal detail of life at its fullest.

What do you already know?

What do you want to know?

Will knowing be enough?

Are you happy being oblivious?

Huddled Masses

Crowds

Huddled Masses

Seething Swirling Stockpiles of Humanity

Surrounded by Kindred Strangers

We Are Many

We Are One

“I am you and you are me”

[ …to quote a mid-century poet-philosopher… ]

Everywhere I look there are people just like me

“all the world over so easy to see”

We know each other intimately while not knowing each other at all

Famous or unknown

We are who we are

And we are all human

The same five senses for most

And emotions and ambitions

And hopes and dreams

And expectations and limitations

We Are One

We Are The Crowds

We Are The Huddled Masses

Attribution to Emma Lazarus for the term "Huddled Masses"

from her poem "The New Colossus"

Without Dissent

It is an ancient metaphor, the mirror.

Self-examination

Self-love

Self-loathing

Accepting the reflection as reality

But it is always backwards and often distorted

Mirrors are imperfect

Reflection representing raw reality

Leaving us to guess

At the gaps

And wonder

At the whispered affirmations

And accusations

Of a malicious mute object

That knows nothing

And sees nothing

And says nothing

Its power

Is in its wordless summarization

Of who and what we are

For we accept its judgment

Without dissent

Nose to Nose

How often

do we

come nose to nose

with indisputable truth

but cannot bear to look it in the eye?

Or

how many times

have you seen something

up close

and

you were

SO SURE

you knew

what you were looking at;

then

it turned out to be

a lie,

a deceit,

a counterfeit,
an illusion?

Proximity

does not guarantee

understanding

or

acceptance.