by David Budbill
Must we all die like the philosophy professor
at the little college in Ohio
forever wishing he were somewhere else
and hating himself for never
having really made it, for always being
only second place?
To see the Ten Thousand Things clearly, distinctly,
yet each separate from the other,
and also simultaneously see each without distinction
from the other
takes a lifetime of self-discipline and modesty,
which is why, I think,
Taoists recluse themselves and live in quiet poverty.
To live in this world is to live with awards and prizes.
Why do we always have to
line up according to ability? And who is to judge
how that line should go?
This lust to be the first, the greatest, the best, makes either
enemies or hypocrites of us all.
These distinctions make only jealousy and envy. They set
our teeth on edge and us against each other.