Sight-Seeing through Crystal Balls
Are we really seeking truth or simple comfort?
Coffee grounds & tea leaves
are her steady purpose
diving into prismatics of crystal balls
sending attention hurtling into
other dimensions where light
is diffuse & poor yet somehow clear.
We roam the world for answers
or that’s what we tell ourselves —
but really seek comfort —
awareness we are not alone.
A painted ocelot on the mantlepiece
a set of baroque chairs &
any visitor is soon
an open-mouthed believer.
I don’t say she is wrong
but rare is the seeker who doesn’t
prefer comfort to hard truths
cushions & sweet talk
to narrow gullies of pain
when the way is broad &
many walk happily in deceit.
I know of two lights.
One chases objects in world
& mind, the other looks
inwards & upwards to
bandwidths other than this—
& like Lot’s wife or Orpheus
can never again turn away.
Copyright Simon Heathcote
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