Help and Not Harm

24 October 2025

https://poems.culturing.net/2025/10/help-and-not-harm/

There is little reason to hope
and so few of our dreams come true
that one wonders whether dreaming itself
is some cosmic malfunction, or whether
our dreams bring to light what is hidden
about ourselves. But in any case, Jung
was on point about this much, that
something tortured slumbers in the soul
of every man, and it cannot be killed
or cured. It must be accommodated,
always with an eye towards others,
the ones we depend on, who have their own souls,
whose tortures are not unlike ours.
We must help and not harm them.