TOO MUCH SIMLICITY IS ENOUGH
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TOO MUCH SIMPLICITY IS ENOUGH*
Poem writte for "Too Much Is Enough Poetry Contest," Margarita Lillico, sponsor, August 2, 2025
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I sift through the clutter of days,
where too much becomes a weight,
and enough an inaudible whisper,
barely heard above the clamor.
I once chased abundance,
collecting positions and things like seashells,
each one a promise, each one a burden,
until excess turned into shackles.
In the clamor of this abundance,
I found myself lost—
a wanderer in the garden of plenty,
flowers blooming in wild abandon.
The weeds crept in, choking the roots of joy.
I pondered, “How much is too much,
when the heart is heavy with an unknown longing
and the soul craves simplicity and stillness?”
I breathed in, finding solace in the balance,
where ‘too much’ fades into the background,
and enough, sweet enough, stands
at the forefront of my personal revolution.
I discovered a quiet truth: enough is not the absence of desire,
but the fullness of being, the serene knowledge
that having too much simplicity
is simply enough.
Note:“Most of us have grown up with a capitalist worldview, which makes a virtue and goal out of accumulation, consumption, and collecting. It has taught us to assume, quite falsely, that more is better… E. F. Schumacher said years ago, ‘Small is beautiful,’ and many other wise people have come to know that?less stuff invariably leaves room for more soul. In fact, possessions and soul seem to operate in inverse proportion to one another.” (Adapted from Richard Rohr,?The Art of Letting Go: Living the Wisdom of Saint Francis, written for Center for Action and Contemplation, 2024.)
Copyright © Sara Etgen-Baker | Year Posted 2025
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