There are no easy lives

There are no easy lives
Each of us faces the reality that emerges from our
Evolutionary past
Our genes
Our brains
Our socialization
Our psyches
Our culture
Our interactions with others
Our interactions with the
Media
Our thoughts
Our beliefs
Our successes
Our failures
Our joys
Our sadness

We are born to be free
Immediately society takes control
Family
Religion
Education
Economics
Polity
All weave a web that confines us within
An existence that was put into place
With the rise of civilization

We twist
We turn
But it is all within the web

There are no easy lives
We are all alone

We can work to increase
Our compassion
Our understanding
Our empathy

We can admit that we are bound to this earth
That heavens are a dream that evaporates when we die

We are of the earth
We can be made one by our collective existence

We created and perpetuated the barriers we encounter within the web
We can tear them down
We can build foundations for a new humanity
While we realize there are no easy lives

Paul Cech has been writing poetry since 1970. Several of his poems have been published as Saturday Poems in the Pittsburgh- Post Gazette and the Thomas Merton Center of Pittsburgh has published several of his poems in NewPeople. Read other articles by Paul.