Wrote and write - for Sian and Adam

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“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].”

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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.

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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.