Phoenix

I cannot see the ocean wide,
My eyes are not that big,
Am I slave to scenes before me,
And blind, say what streams in?

Into shared mentality,
Into reflection's box,
I stitch together settings,
The hound pursues the fox;

We scavenge for an anchor,
Comfort settles soul,
Constructing visions of convenience,
To suit our timid shoal;

Wretched simple beings,
Repeat solely as they're told,
Rebuilding same sand castles,
Reliving casts of old;

The meek cultivate security,
Drawing weeds of doubt,
Firm-up feelings of identity,
Casting non-conforming out;

Drink nectar of disillusionment,
Ambrosia 'gainst the toll,
Fill mentus with delirium,
Perspective seldom soiled;

Partake in fodder for the masses,
Artificial bliss,
Be mindful of heterogeny,
Savour populism's kiss;

It starts with sips of mimicry,
Nature's generation's foil,
Then yes & no & right & wrong,
We tame our conscious toil;

Next acceptance by the spoonful,
And independence scorned,
We nurture children to our image
And leave nature never mourned;

The cycle wears us to a preference,
It is, what we are told,
Always eyes upon our actions,
Youth propertied by old;

Against this titled backdrop,
Questions stymied less they fit,
Is it wonder that identity,
Fits mold society has script?

The sweetness of rebellion,
To spy another sky, and
Raise prophetic rasp,
To break personal tradition,
With profoundness that will last;

The rub is action to the concept,
Friction 'gainst everything you're told,
Told from infancy to last rites,
Repetition 'til your sold;

So somewhere 'long the journey,
In subtle, silent, fixtured ways,
We piece together cobbled selves,
Become our prison's keeper,
And shutter-in to stay;

Awareness lightens meaning,
And falsely sits atop,
Keyed chambers of perspective,
Growth starves to a stop;

Emaciated senses, serve sadness by their miss,
Quiet controversial, discordance in assist,
But truth, ever present, finds fissures thru to top,
And even the most knowing, feels knowing feels soft;

Sometimes screaming, sometimes silent,
Truth tugs for us to stray,
Self-interest warns not listen,
It's ourselves we must betray.

The uproot of the anchor,
To dislodge intuition's discontent,
To remake shackles into wings of freedom,
And live life without lament;

Is to captain your own mutiny,
Kill prisoners, burn the boat,
Cast bloodied sole survivor,
To drown instead of float;

Confusion overwhelms you,
No tank to help you breathe,
Just panic boiled oblivion,
Waiting to conceive;

Lungs burn with feared uncertainty,
You choke with desperate yearn,
You reach for help, but nothing's left,
You dread your final turn;

Denied required condition,
The struggle falls to null,
Your listless self suspended,
Surely darkness next to fall;

It's now the final moment,
The end you engineered,
Acceptance of the failure,
Then silence....
Nothing....

Then first again you breathe!

Inhale refluent breath,
As lungs retrieve new air,
As body returns faculty,
Death receives repair;

Empty chambers of awareness,
A world less intercede,
Floodgates of authentic sense,
Warm your last recede;

A new born full developed,
Nurture tamed to need,
Express existence in a moment,
You're at once the tree & seed;

See change in all dimensions,
Beyond the human stock,
Know petals on a flower,
Share destiny with rock;

You live this very moment,
And walk in unison,
With carbon & her sisters,
Under cycled moon & sun;

A rebirth freed from slavery,
Emancipation from the writ,
Your sight shows new horizon,
Can actions form to fit?

Alas, desire that drew you forth,
Now drifts you every sway,
Foreign currents of enlightenment,
Threat paradise with decay?

There's difference twix awareness,
The open mind's dream,
And translation thru to action,
An adventurer at sea;

It's addiction to our pathways,
Habits worn & weathered thru,
Lowlands in the mind's landscape,
That flood despite renew;

In patterns well repeated rest,
Of new divorced perspective,
Regression blamed to failed accord,
Twix mind and fleshy mistress;

Only action tames the waters,
Fear pulls you under seas,
Eschew body's pined responses,
Know siren's empty pleas;

Lost is wild response,
Dulled by learned bequest,
Hidden reams of authenticity,
Bound by social jest;

To break another practice,
Entrenched beyond the first,
Takes more than moments of euphoria, and
Occasioned novel burst;

Unyoke from learned reaction,
Brave uncharted sea,
Leave lifetimes of familiar fare,
Break habit out of thee;

Trade pride for pure humility,
And on every notion wish,
To engage a world in conscious dance,
See truth rid the twist;

Shed patterns of behaviour,
Lay bare and live exposed,
Consign pathways to disappear,
Live fearless evermore;

Patience oils the process,
Progress drawn and incremental,
Expect delays in disentangle,
Recall the time distilled to form;

Freedoms on the pathway,
Not wholly destination,
Each moment gleamed along the way,
Savoured breath beyond the fray,

Each step a reinforcement,
As dust settles on the past,
You grow to true comportment,
Discordance drains to last;

And as meaning waters down to truth,
Passed withered vines of expectation,
You refind happiness of youth,
A phoenix rising to the air.