Ask Ourselves Why

Mindfulness Meditation can help us to feel and experience emotions as the body sensations they are so as we learn to respond and not react from old mental habits. 
The recent murder of George Floyd and all it highlighted inspired me to write the poem below.
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Why have we come so far,
so far away from who we truly are?
 
The constant distractions from the here and now
the thoughts and beliefs that convince us how
we are separate subjects in our own little realm
not even aware it’s the chattering mind at the helm
 
A virus can bring our world to a stand-still
but the distractions go on; we still maim and kill
Anger is born from a deep sense of fear
of the very death this behaviour brings near
 
A murder most foul is captured on screen
so we let our anger boil over and vent our spleen
Violence and vitriol become the order of the day
Why have we come so far, so far away?
 
Or we sit and hang our heads in shame
Is our antipathy to our sisters and brothers to blame?
Do we really try to understand their plight
or get defensive and glove-up, ready for a fight?
 
Why is it ok to lash out and hate?
It’s not, it’s not, it’s just sealing our fate
Anger is an emotion, allowed to be felt
but as a sensation within, not a blow to be dealt
 
Whichever side you see yourself on
ask yourself why you feel this anger so strong?
When you do and the answer is authentic and true
you’ll discover the source of the anger is in you
 
So old stories of superiority, must be learned, are just that
- stories and old, no basis in fact
‘Who do they think they are?’ thoughts and beliefs rage on
Where, oh where, has all the love gone?
 
Well the love is still here, it’s just shielded by
the labels, masks and stories we rate so high
by the comparisons and judgements we hold so dear
and by the belief in separation – our real fear
 
But we can begin again, in Universal Unity
the planet and all it’s inhabitants, an Earthly Equality
Just take time to go within, sit awhile, be still
and discover love is our essence, non-separation our will