The world may appear to be your oyster,

remember it is not yours to keep or conquer.

 

You may never discover why you are here,

if you have a special place in the universe.

There may be planets inhabited by creatures

infinitely more intelligent and conscious than us.

 

By the time you figure out most things you believed

in are flawed, half a century will have disappeared.

 

Things change faster than you can imagine,

leaving you running in the same spot quick as you can.

 

No point in prising open your priceless treasure

with a sword, nothing worth having is won by force.

 

Build therefore your own world. If you start early 

you might learn to make a home of it eventually.

 

Explore the vast continents of yourself –

nothing in this world is real, nothing more real than you.

From What Survives Is The Singing (2020). www.indigodreams.co.uk/shanta-acharya