why do you look to the future?
your shining goal,
the gold at rainbow's end,
blinds you to the rocky ground.

why do you lean on history?
the wisdom of ancestors,
ritual and tradition,
bring you to known ends.

your ties to your hopes, they are a noose.
they will choke you! cut them!
your obedience to the past, it is a heavy chain.
it will drown you! cast it off!

instead live in the present
which will neither lead you
   where you have been,
   nor where you were going;
but will keep you
   exactly where you are.

October 15, 2004