oak

I had forgotten what it was like to have space in my brain to wonder philosophically. Only a month out of graduate school, my brain suddenly feels thirsty and curious - a feeling that I really love & have missed over the past few years under the regime of academic rigor & deadlines. Be forewarned; my blog might begin to explode with mounds of curiosity & questions. Or my brain could soon return to mush. Who knows.


I smile at you towering oak,
branches spread wide open -
some confidently erect
to support dancing leaves that
filter rays of sunshine;
others charismatically drooping, swooping,
swaying in the wind.

I'm jealous
of your non-defensive freedom
to be
and to accept your fate.

Then again, every moment and detail
of your existence
is devoted to your own survival & propagation.
Of course, you're not conscious
but you work
quite vigilantly
to survive.

Can you feel the happiness of spring's birth & summer's bloom?
Do you feel the pain of autumn's wilt & winter's death?

You certainly fight,
but I don't think you know -
at least not in a conscious way.

Can you really be free then -
when you don't know
& you're bound to the path of instinct?
____________________________________

Happiness visits with Temporary Contentment
but Consciousness seems to propel one out of the moment
and thus out of Happiness.

Presence returns one to Happiness -
(if that is the relevant feeling at that time) -
but Consciousness seems to fade.

Can Consciousness & Presence coexist
in the same space?
Do they compete?
Or do they dance?