…..
…..
We walk a precarious path
………Strung ‘twixt two unfathomed depths

On the one hand the passive surrender
………To bland acquiescence and sleep

On the other the embattled (however illusory) duality
………A cut-throat struggle ‘tween “Them” and “Us”

Review with me now our obsessions
………So faithfully reflecting
………………The brazen societal madnesses
………………………Their insanity perpetuates

Our stubborn self-determination
………Through the transgression of their norms

The myriad ways we develop
………To cry above the bubbling hubbub
………………Our mighty resounding NO!!!

No to slow death by assimilation
………No to repression through tolerance

No to watching our hopes and dreams
………Reshaped as marketing opportunities

No to their invitations
………To undertake “heroic feats
………………Of acquisition and consumption”*

We pledge not to fall into gluttony
………We pledge love and forgiveness despite

We pledge to recall the unity
………That lies behind this shadow play
………………This puppetry of light and dark

We walk a precarious path

——————————————————————

* Lewis Lapham

Raga (craving, attachment), dosa (aversion) and moha (ignorance) are the causes of our misery.