The Impermanent

("Spinning Earth", 2016) The Impermanent What is impermanent, by definition, Doesn’t last and can’t remain, And what is not impermanent? Yet each of us has a lingering thought That something must be. So we habitually project this intuition, This inner knowing of the most holy, Onto the everyday and profane. We think maybe we are somehow permanent Or maybe what we create, what we accomplish and achieve Will somehow become so. But obviously these are vain hopes We all know deep down are not it. Still we know that something must be Beyond the bounds of change, Something that is, now and always, A constant source of solace and guidance An IT that is somewhere within us and without us. We know, but cannot say, what is true Not because we don’t want to, or lack the words, But because what we intuit As the changeless has no name, no concept Beyond mere labels which by definition miss the mark. This is the original sin we all share, after all, The lack of ability and facility To grasp the ungraspable And so we settle instead to grasp in vain The impermanent. (1/8/23)