This is not a normal blog entry - it's basically just a poem that I decided not to post on Facebook, mostly because it's a bit longer than the ones I've written in the past. Just as a very quick introduction, this poem summarizes some ideas (not necessarily completely original or unique) that I've been formulating and tossing around in my head for probably about a year now. I'm not sure how well it's all explained in this format, but I thought it might be important to start providing some order to all of these ideas. Since I've gotten into writing some small poems during my time in Uganda, it just ended up coming out this way. If something strikes you as interesting, or if I need to explain something in more detail, feel free to send me a message, and I'd be happy to talk about it!
The Center of the Universal Sphere
Somewhere
clear of the confines of time,
Outside the
gaze of the stars,
None hears
the sound of the midnight chime,
Or sees the
face full of scars.
Space and
time as we know them to be,
At that
point, they pass away,
While the
triumphs and trials of life are set free,
To be
perceived in a different way.
Is it true,
what I hear, that none sheds a tear
In the
center of the universal sphere?
On the
surface of the sphere, full of spirit and thought,
Lies the
realm of our waking eyes,
Where
something like love can be sold or bought
Or sunk in a
lake of lies.
One cannot
dismiss this plane’s imperfection,
Yet good
could still be supplied,
For the
surface offers space for expression, through action,
Of
spirit-touched love from inside.
Each soul,
it seems clear, as a cross could appear,
At which
matter and spirit cohere.
Surface
points on the sphere, irrespective of kind,
Can exhibit
each component quality.
In the
material plane, specific form one will find,
Along the
radius, spiritual beauty.
But greatest
value will come from the two vectors’ sum,
And
connecting one’s own to others’,
For no
fortunes or doctrines or dogmas should come
Before love
for life’s sisters and brothers.
Touching
points there and here, inner lines will draw near
To the
center of the universal sphere.
The shortest
distance to steer between two points on an arc
Is a line
that cuts inside the curve.
Tensile
force then pulls points toward the central mark
And fires a
spiritual nerve.
These lines
show relationships of peace and equality
Among people
and all of existence,
A collectively-formed
filter to reduce the turbidity
That clouds
the spiritual substance.
And in a
soul’s final year, when matter’s ties disappear,
Perhaps connections
propel it into the sphere.
But what of
the tear about which there was query
Whether ever
it falls in the core?
Now I cannot
be sure, but I present here a theory
Based on
that which has come before.
There are
those who do not form connections of peace,
Or of love,
or equality, or kindness.
Instead they
pursue, seeming never to cease,
The means to
power, to wealth, and to blindness.
Some prey on
those who they see as below them,
Or those who
seem not quite the same,
While some,
solely fixed on a goal or a gem,
Are indifferent
to those losing the game.
But although
they may gain all the things they have sought,
Time fades
power and fine, precious stone.
The permanent
value of love they have not,
Without
connection, souls drift off alone.
So perhaps,
a soft tear, for these souls will appear,
And for
those whose connections they shear.
But let us
be clear, yes, let us remember
That these
sad souls are not simply “they”,
For in each
of us fidgets a flickering ember,
Burning to
keep connections away.
Yet in all
of us also is a stream from the center
That
supports and joins one to another.
All we need
do is allow it to enter,
To flow, and
the flames it will smother.
So join
hands without fear, and together draw near
To the
center of the universal sphere.
