Child, Touch Another World

The child's heart within all
Feels so much larger than it actually is.
It feels like all laws bend to its will,
That it is of a greater importance
Than the Great Pyramids,
Than the Mythic Stonehenge,
Than the Swirling Milky Way,
Than the Eifel Tower,
Than Democracy,
Than Free Speech,
Than Patriotism,
Than History.
The child within all feels like the creator of all worlds.

It feels so important,
Like a king,
Like it were great at every which thing.
A great skier,
A great chess player,
A great teacher,
A great writer,
A great builder,
A great artist,
A great singer,
A great champion and hero.

The child in all believes itself to be great...
It feels entitled to all good treatment.

It feels as if the world revolves around them.

I don't know how we ever grow up...
I look at people, in their self importance,
And I find each one a world swirls around their minds,
I can tap into it by listening to their words.
I can feel their feelings, know their thoughts
By the words they speak, and the mien they imbue.
I can know them, and so can you.
Yet, not many care to know them.
Not many care to look at the dramatic obelisk of Other
As a friend once wrote in a poem about a man named David.
That there are obstacles hindering us,
People, places and things.

I look at myself, and my wisest thoughts
Came from other minds much wiser than mine.
It came from listening, from tasting,
From touching, from smelling,
Through the descriptive tense
Of another's words.
Not my taste, not my touch,
Not my smell, but my ear.

The greatest pieces of wisdom
Came from the greatest adversaries.
For, I could poke holes right through them
When I became undaunted by their words.
When it became interesting.

In practical matters I still feel there are foolish men---
Yet, they find a more practical lifestyle than I do.
And I feel their swirling world as they speak---
It is offensive. It soon becomes my world
A swirling kaleidoscope of thoughts and inventions.
I've learned to embrace it, for such is their freedom
And such is mine.

Yet, my brother told me today,
"Do not seek to persuade me."
Can democracy flourish without persuasion?
My inner child likes to reach out and touch other worlds
But it often gets burnt. Thus, it still reaches,
It still touches, it pries into the deepest held beliefs.
Politely, I can have a conversation with a woman
On Dharma, and she enjoy it.
Yet, her husband---for he ought to be by now---
Scolds her, offends her, doesn't listen.

"Buddhism is more optimistic."
I agree, it's not the torments of Caste systems.
But, really, there must be something better after this life,
Than having to live it all over again.
What cruel deity swirls us in this cosmos for eternity?
Hell is a comfort to me, for there is no wisdom there.
No activity. No planning.
Meaning, no thought. For, with thought
There is wisdom. Hell seems less cruel
Than tormenting someone on Earth
Over and over again,
With a reincarnation of past lives
Rejuvenating and swirling like the Milky Way.
That is immoral.
And at last, it is simply to die?
I cannot  believe death is the sum of life's choices.
I believe there must be more.
I'd lose hope, if all I had to look for
Was another life like this.
Yet, her thoughts are interesting,
And he---very sure of himself---
Tells me I upset her.
Something tells me she was telling the truth
That it was not me.

Rather, I live to listen...
Do not be offended if I cannot agree,
But that is core to our freedom
Even to have heated arguments.
If I could not persuade,
If I could not gain access to the worlds which swirl around me,
I would be despaired, and lonely.
I would be, as the Woke Mob wishes me to be,
A solipsist, constantly reassuring himself with his own thoughts.
And there I would be, no one to challenge me
Suffering in the hell I created for myself
By telling someone I thought was wrong to, "Shut up."

Offense is necessary in a free society.
For, in a free society, we are free to share our worlds
With one another, and burdened though we be,
The child within us touches the scalding, red-hot
Iron of another's world---if we cannot sway them to ours
Or be swayed to theirs, then there is no freedom.

I know it burns. But, there is no better joy any other way.