A Poem. Can I Wander? Can I Adapt? Can I Evolve?

80 Lines

I think my mind can wander,

journey into highways and byways,

where I prefer to go and not to go,

and imagine tasks that need attention.

….

If I am a body, feelings, perceptions,

thoughts, intentions and consciousness,

then they can't wander.

If they could,

the body could wander from itself,

my mind could stop being where it is,

and wander into being somewhere else,

so they can't wander from where they are,

so where can I wander from or to?

….

Since these appearances of body, feelings and so on

are all impermanent,

they come and they go,

then they also could not wander,

they just come and go.

…….

Body and feelings can't go from where they are,

a permanent body cannot wander,

and permanent feelings cannot wander,

…..

Oh, Nagarjuna!

You leave us no place to hold onto,

nowhere to wander.

….

If I am a permanent human being,

I can never change,

so I could not evolve from my permanence,

If I am an impermanent human being,

then I cannot evolve from this impermanence,

I could only arise and pass, take birth and death.

….

Where could I wander in a permanent condition?

How can I evolve from a permanent condition?

How can I evolve out of this impermanent condition?

Can the young evolve into not being old?

Perhaps some of me is permanent,

and perhaps some of me adapts and changes,

If I could adapt what do I adapt to?

If I could evolve what do I evolve to?

….

Can I adapt one way and evolve in another way?

Can I adapt and not evolve?

Or evolve and not adapt?

If monkeys can evolve to being human,

why can’t I evolve to being something beyond human?

…

I have been around for millions of years,

made for adaption, so I’m told.

If I am made for adaption,

why aren’t I adapting very well to being human

or more than human?

…

My life goes up and down,

pushed and pulled around by events.

I don’t stay the same and I don’t really change.

If I really am evolving,

then I am going on from one kind of existence

to another kind,

When I stopped being in this existence,

I would be non-existent

before evolving into something else.

How could I go from a non-existence

to evolving into a new existence?

If I take something of my old existence with me,

as I adapt and evolve,

then tell me what part I take.

…

If I leave something of my old existence behind,

as I adapt and evolve,

then tell me what part I take.

If leave something of my old existence behind

as I adapt and evolve

then tell me what part do I leave behind?

…

Why can’t I evolve to a higher state?

Please tell me what this higher state is.

How can body, feelings, perceptions,

thoughts, intentions, consciousness

become what they are not?

…..

A plant arises and passes as a plant,

a monkey arises and passes as a monkey,

a human being arises and passes as a human being,

Wander? Not wander?

Adapt? Not adapt?

Evolve? Not evolve?

Same? Not same?

Different? Not different?

Where is the science?

A poem on page 119

POEMS FROM THE EDGE OF TIME

Christopher Titmuss

Published 2015

ISBN 978-1-326-34283-8

154 Pages. 110 poems

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