It is the ultimate illusion,
said the sage to the mind,
to seek the lessons of life,
in the archive of knowledge;
if you wish to know the secrets of the soul,
look inside you to the heart.
Though I knew this in my heart,
I continued to live the illusion,
I ignored the song of my soul,
I succumbed to the call of my mind;
safe as I thought in the knowledge,
that I was in charge of my life.
So 43 years of life,
went by dismissing the heart;
years of gathering knowledge,
weaving, deceptive, artful illusions;
slowly entrapped by my mind,
slowly starving my soul.
But one can’t forever ignore, the quiet voice of the soul,
the meaning of life after life
the meaning of mind within mind,
the ache of the lonely heart.
Although it takes time to see the illusion,
it indeed takes time to acknowledge,
the sense that it’s not about knowledge,
but is a quest for the soul.
to see through the illusion,
that we have no answers to life,
to find truth is in heart,
not in delusionary mind.
So pray not be entranced by your mind,
pray not be a seeker of knowledge.
Fall in love with your heart,
dance a waltz with your soul,
finally shatter the illusion
that you know all there is to about life
So as I now watch the illusion of my mind,
Trying to understand life and the soul,
I know true knowledge lives in the heart, and I no longer seek.
3 comments:
Nice peice of work, i like to imagine that this is true for me , no all of us , but feel too many constraints of pride and ego , things like that anyway. i was surprised with sestina myself , the way it automaticly drew me into questioning those last words , like in the third verse i was brought to thinking of those words more deeply , to find the fourth gave a resolution, .... good going.
I have found the sestina form very difficult (as you will see from my effort) and after 'looking them up' I feel that I actually don't like many of the examples I have found at all, yours being an exception. Not at all contrived and very thought provoking, I think. Excellent.
Yes - very nice and good to see you all engaging with the evil Sestina! I think this is great and love the envoi (final 3 lines). How did you find writing it?
And don't worry, I am coming armed with reading list tomorrow!
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