*
“Without going outside, you may know the whole world. / Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven. / The farther you go, the less you know. // Thus, the sage knows without travelling; / S/he sees without looking; / S/he works without doing [Lao Tzu, ‘Tao Te Ching’ 47].”
*
In 1980 I wrote a poem, but ignored these words:
I went outside, I looked beyond the windows, I travelled
I was intent on seeing and working and doing,
Well, at forty, there was so much I desired to achieve;
Just imagine --- knowing the truth of one thing.
*
In 2020 I write a poem, and I live these words:
I stay inside, I examine myself, I accept loss, I do not travel
I attend [in silence], writing, drawing, meeting, meditating,
I work [at full-stretch], struggling to change the world;
Just imagine --- transforming your dying-self.