On The Human Condition Comments

I enjoy your philosophical writings and the argument about what makes us human is the body, the mind, and the spirit....is a pervasive one...but I gather that perhaps this isn't really what the speaker(s) are saying at all is it? Taking all of these aspects and rolling them into a story, a fable that ends with the quote inscribed on a monastery wall, There is only the walking, reminds me that despite everything (including religion) there is only the walking, the filling of the time that we have on this earth with no specific path. I loved that opening line...tell me where you have been and I will know you or tell me where you're going and you will be a mystery to me. It isn't about where we may end up, it's about where we are right now and where we have been. But then you write (beautifully I might add...love the brim image) about how the past is like a broad-brimmed hat that blocks one's vision of what is in front of them now...that one needs to lean back and get a broader perspective beyond the only one they've known. And then the comment that the speaker makes to the wanderer...You arrive too soon at your destinations....a man before his time. Liked that....And then there is the mind and the contemplations....a worthy endeavor...but even more satisfying when the contemplations can form into words, words, words.....And now for the third speaker....the soul....who can turn time into purpose and purpose into triumph! This triumph, the speaker asserts, is becoming ONE WHOLE BEING....not body, nor mind, nor spirit, just ONE being that can put one foot in front of the other and experience the world, and himself fully within it. At this point, we've reached a state of peace and happiness and oneness with everything. At this point there is no path, no human, there is just the walking, the being. To me, this is a state of heaven....though there is no heaven, there is only the walking. Beautifully written.

daniel, this poem strikes me as ambitious (in a good sense—it's the word that comes readily to mind) . ambitious because of what you undertake in it. but what is characteristic of your writing, it doesn't feel like you labored long in the writing—it flows. you probably know the overall title for my poetry is while passing through. the title, as i recall, just came to me. and, of course, it recalls the idea of us as sojourners, and for me specifically that sojourner abraham (father of arabs and jews, and many peoples—a hebrew but not a jew, not a christian or a muslim, a man who was just a man that heard a call and went) . i'm not sure i get all you're saying here. this is a time i wish we could sit across a table from one another, and i could ask you questions. but here are standout lines for me: Does the past hang over your path like a broad-brimmed hat, blocking your sight of immediate things? (great image and question!) the mind is cavernous, its sorrowload is scattered over the floors of thought (cool!) I conclude: on odd days writing trumps contemplation. On even days - Oh, take your pick! (something in us impels us to create, yes? but what would there be worthy of creation if not preceded by contemplation?) There is only the walking. (this because it's the perfect conclusion. when we think we're finished walking, we're closed and finished to awe, to vibrant living.) one small technical thing on this, daniel, i wonder why you didn't make this the last line by itself instead of the extra-long line it shares now? good stuff! it's why i visit your poems. glen

Ah, the point of reference is perspective, walking, motion either in thoughts, hopes or worth, a fascinating piece of work Daniel! ! I wil have to read this a few times more

You can do what you will but first you must prepare the soul to receive the truth which pours its power into body and mind and makes you whole.. There is only walking. A philosophical write, enjoyed reading Daniel