Being

This is from a friend of mine. I especially find the last stanza as being profound. How much baggage are we going to continue to carry? When can we see the past as the past and be at peace with the present?

Being

I surround myself with words
That have no meaning
I use them like blades
To cut myself into submission
But the bleeding does no good
And the healing never comes.

I hide inside the cave of me
Gazing out at passersby.
Views fly by like fast-forward dreams.
I desperately seek sign posts
Somewhere in the swirling mist
But the speed blurs their messages
And I realize I am looking outside
Instead of in.

I look at my reflection
And the pretense falls away
Survival layers melt
Into pools of insignificance.
Being is all there is
And there are many ways to be.
Awareness clears the mists
And reveals the shining message
That the essence of us all
Is only here and now.

The past is just the past
Not a blueprint for the future.
Memories have no meaning in present tense.
And power is creation.
I am here to be me;
Whatever me I choose to be.
Now I’ve only to discover
How to live without comfortable definition.

Billy T. Brookshire (3-27-05)