To This Day

("Utopia and Terror Merit Badge", 2010, original oil) To This Day Even now over 175 years after Marx Set a tide of revolution in motion There are still ever expanding and encroaching Tendrils and tentacles of his influence In every aspect of our lives. At the root of all this hope and change Is the vision of an idealized society, You could say a vision of heaven on earth Which should make it clear It’s more a dream here than literal vision. At the heart of desire for change Is discontent with what is. Sometimes this makes sense Like wanting to come in from the cold rain. But sometimes it’s just a wish to deny reality. It comes down to choosing our battles Defining what we actually control And thus the limits of our power. As they - they being the generic voices of wisdom - say You can’t change the world, only how you react to it. Yet due to the myriad of modern achievements We easily forget this timeless wisdom We think we can change how others think and act And can one day eliminate all suffering All injustices and sin, and ugliness too… But, you know, there’s a simple way to solve our problems And that is to accept them for what they are. Apparently it works for cows and dogs But less so for humans Especially the more idealistic and ambitious among us. So there in a nutshell you have it, We choose our problems Because we don’t want to be cows or dogs We want to be gods, masters of our destiny, And so to this day continue to dream, in vain. (8/28/24)