Soldiers

I have worked as a
psychotherapist for nearly forty years now
and though I have never met one in the course of my work
I have heard and read about people who are enlightened,
when I was younger I hoped that one day
I might count myself among them.

I thought that if I could achieve
an enlightened state I would no longer have to suffer,
but now I believe that the difference between somebody
who is enlightened and an ordinary person
is that the enlightened person has found
something inside that helps them to
bear their suffering without blame
and turn it into compassion.

It’s the same source that
enables trees to fall without complaint,
helps soldiers find peace on the battlefield
and compels me to write these poems as I walk.

DF. 27-1-2021 1448