Reality Check

Everything we see is filtered through
the lens of self.
All we learn is distilled
by conditioning:
familial, cultural, commercial,
and religious.

My truth is your blasphemy:
your dogma, to others, insanity.
The rules by which we live
apply only in our individual
egocentric interpretations.

We walk through life
unaware of the strangeness,
the fantasy,
the terror,
the sociopathic pulse
that throbs unseen
beneath the surface
of what we all know
as our lives.

We are tribal:
our religions, cultures, philosophies,
are created to make each tribe special,
non-inclusive and xenophobic,
wary of others
until they conform.

We are groups in search of common vision,
and, until that vision emerges
societal progress will stagnate,
or continue towards restoring
the archaic past,
glorified by holy books
and autocratic godspeakers.

The time has come to abandon the fantasies
from the childhood of our species,
and embrace progress and a greater good for all.
It is time for inclusiveness,
equality, and a commonality of purpose
that will define us as humanity,
and carry us forward to a brighter tomorrow
in a shared reality
that all can see.

The Falling of a Leaf (Reality Check series)

Autumn,
and photosynthesis
decrees
a period of winter dreaming.
The tree slows,
living on stored food,
and little energy.

The leaves,
released from factory duties,
celebrate
with colourful display:
a tribute to summers past.
They fall.  They become one
with the earth
from whence they came.

The fallen leaves
did not develop
myths and fables
of a Father Tree
that created all.
They have no expectation
of a leaf reunion
on the Great Oak In The Sky.

They live.
They perform their tasks.
They celebrate their completion.
They fall.
Their elements become
part of all that was,
all that is,
and all that will follow.

Their lives are fruitful:
they grow;
they work;
they age;
they fall.
The universe does not destroy:
it transforms.

May we learn from leaves.
May our autumns blaze with colour.
May our transformation be joyous.