A poem for my father

I'm sorry
to the old paradigm 
which moved with the desire 
that progress could be systematized 

The intention was well meant
seeking conceptual steps to leave behind
to build a ladder to healing

where we erred was the desire for security & certainty
for this journey to be built block by block 
from past to future
each level solidified before starting the next

a formula
whose efficacy was self-evident 
whose structure was universal

a formula to fall back on
to hold onto 
to give away
to save

we erred when we placed the emphasis on the formula
and not the process
when we superimposed linearity
onto an inter-dimensional unfolding

when we demanded a prescriptive foothold
instead of finding satisfaction with a descriptive signpost


now we've come to a fuller embodiment
by untangling our confusions softly 
often indirectly
enjoying ourselves only to realize 
a once familiar worry has slipped through the back door

simmering in the flow of vitality 
only to find old knots - tightened by manual operations-
now undone

why deny the magic of the synergistic whole
in expectation of a flattened map

a manual is of little use if it does not convey truth

perhaps one day this desire for comprehensible cohesion, order & practicality for all will come to fruition

but as we've learned 
along different axes of this becoming
attachment to the forms of desire 
tends to be the underlying barrier to its fulfillment

& its fulfillment becomes a byproduct 
of a much sweeter revelation