I am of the west and imbibe

western ways to think and

be and act and live and dream.

 

And I create as man in my western

ways and as human with desire

for transformation:

to go beyond this present

body and mind to the place

where all good ideas live.

 

But still I am yet caught in

these western ways,

in my prescribed body

and mind as man, in my

preferences and what I think

is good and nice and bad.

 

I am of my history and my age,

as creature given to these habits

patterned from childhood days.

 

What if I could be open to

others ways of being, of seeing

of feeling, not of the west, not of

the sanctioned forms that open

some windows but also confine.

 

Is that possible?

 

Could I see in more spectrums

than my culture might allow?

 

Can I unlearn? 

 

I want to dream new dreams

and think new thoughts and open

my heart and allow my body to

be more than it has been.

 

I want to sit down and sing

and stand and dance, and look

at the earth in other ways than

I have always been taught.

 

I am a man of the west troubled

by my limited self and wishing for more

and expecting less in challenging

culture and expanding self.

 

Can I unlearn? Can you?

 

18/4/2022