Poems: Healing The Void Within

At some time or the other
We all encounter a hollowness
A nagging, deep-rooted need
Which we describe differently
And like most things lost
In translation
We begin to believe:

‘I need someone to love me
To have someone who belongs to me
To whom I matter most
And can count on for eternity.’

But if we examine such ‘needs’
How clear it is to see
That we have shifted
From love and presence
To ownership, demands, insistence
Entitlement, control, monopoly,
Feeding our false hope
Of everlasting security.

Misunderstanding our need
To be true to ourselves
To remember the reality
Of what is constant and unchangeable,
What is transient and illusory…
What is self, who is the other
And where does this loneliness
Really want to take me.

How much would change
If we said instead:

‘What I am looking for
Is a way to remember and live
The  warm assurance
Of being
At peace
With my self and all that I be.’ 

Where, then, would one direct
One’s time, attention and energy?