Truer, Higher, Deeper

27 May 2026

https://poems.culturing.net/2026/05/27/truer-higher-deeper/

Drifting about, once more searching for myself
I remember what God used to mean to me...
Can I pick up those pieces, restore to false hearts
one true thing, one solid truth that remains
even when all else topples? What is man,
and how far has he come from the jungle
to think he might think himself free?

How far must I go into unreached places,
unnamed spaces, the desolate chambers
of love abandoned, before I discover the answer?
Life's question perennial, how to make sense
of all urges, demands no special prerogative,
no lonely sage. The man of action learns
what he is by doing.

Can a man be happy without a woman
around whom he can orbit? Hence libido,
hence his deepest longing, hence his
truest self. But is there a woman worthy
of his sacrifice? Not even one.

And yet he is called to sacrifice
by divine command. Is there no other way?
Love breaks the day into pieces, until
he can only say "take all I have."

Can a truer, higher, deeper love
fulfill the needs of libido, or will it
suck the soul out of itself and into
some cosmic affair, so-called "holy" love
between souls, where no body interferes?

I must embrace the pain in order
to be fully human. I cannot shrink
from my obligations or refuse to suffer.
I must know where I am.