THE DUALITY OF EXISTENCE

We tell ourselves what we want to know,
to get through another day,
we plan, daydream, fantasize, harbor hopes,
sometimes even lie to ourselves,
and there is nothing wrong with that,
we all do it.

Who cares if there are a few little details
we'd rather block out or ignore,
who cares if sometimes
we embellish or alter some things?
We choose to remember
or we choose to forget
certain aspects of memory.

Sometimes harsh things are forced upon us,
sometimes we don't want the hard reality,
so we make up our own
which can sometimes be even more true and real.

But it is a compromise,
for I have to believe in a world
both inside and outside my own mind,
I must believe my actions, my thoughts, my emotions
have meaning, that I have a purpose,
even if I don't always know what it is.

I have to believe
that when my eyes are closed
the world is still there,
my world.

My world and the real world
are just different perspectives of the same thing,
for reality is only as real as you make it.
We are not liars, for reality,
honesty
is merely the truth you believe.

I am unique
yet am no different
than anyone else,
we all need
doors, windows, mirrors
into and of ourselves.

So do I still believe
this world, this life,
my world, my life,
is still there
when I open my eyes?

Yes,
yes it is.

We all need
both worlds, both lives
and the thin line between
to realize the answers and questions
inside and outside ourselves.

We need this
duality of existence
to remind ourselves
of who we are,
of all we are.

In the end it is both
simple and complicated;
there is that which surrounds us
and there is that which is within us.

What is real
and
what is the dream?

Perhaps we find
they are actually
the same thing, afterall.

2002/2006/4-18-2007/5-22-2007

(Note: In a roundabout, vague way this piece was inspired by
one of my all time favorite movies, 'MEMENTO')