Poem: What poetry taught me

In life

It’s not the sweetness

That will build you

Sugar is sweet

But it will destroy you

Words are beautiful

But they can destroy you

It’s not the sourness of life

That contains lessons of bitterness

It’s the sweeter part of life

That is sprinkled with toxins

Don’t look at emptiness

And be fearful

Look at emptiness

And see beyond your imagination

Don’t look at the mirror

And see yourself

Hold the mirror

And be your true self

It’s not always easy

To undress ourselves

And be naked of our thoughts (ego)

It’s sometimes embarrassing

To look foolish

But it’s inside foolishness

That you will find your true being

Let go of your ego

Find your madness

It’s not the logical things in life

That will open the door to your heart

It’s the sparkling molecules of nothingness

That will fill your heart with happiness

It’s the blanket of darkness

That brings a new day

Don’t be tempted

To swallow everything you see or hear

Sometimes it’s the knowledge

That is full of toxins

Our body, mind and soul

Are not templates of our physicality

But garments of knowing

It’s the deeper knowledge

Not coming out of the five senses

But buried inside our consciousness

That makes the framework of true reality

Logic is a construct of our mindset

Yes, it’s helpful most of the time

But it has limitations

Especially when it comes to the truth

It’s not a path to a deeper knowledge of the truth

It’s a layer on the outer part of awareness

Poetry taught me to remove my blindness

And helped me to drink from the river of life

Not with my mouth or mind

But with my heart

Awareness is knowing your way, path and destiny

Knowledge is knowing a subset of your environment

Poetry taught me to be aware of that which I don’t know

And to hold that which I know inside a microscope

Poetry is the petri-dish of consciousness

Where we can grow knowledge

Out of nothingness

And see the petals of life

Begin to form

And the canopy of life bloom

It’s a beautiful experience

To be inside the magical laboratory of Poetry

©

Kenneth Maswabi