Certainty and Stupidity - Poem English
Channel: owais sarvasukhsevaka
Date: 2012-10-04

This is a new poem (written today: oct 4th, 2012).  Being published here first.

Here is the text, for your convenience...

-

Certainty and Stupidity


I know 
I am me. 

 Or so, 
I think.  

My two year old nephew 
also recognizes himself.   
Bonobos do that; my favourite 
amongst all animals, 
including the humans.

Self-awareness, also exists, it seems, 
in other great apes, dolphins and elephants.
And for sure, in some more too.

But, 
what do we do, 
when we know, we are we?  

We link our past experiences 
as having been experienced 
by us.  We construct 
us.  We begin 
to expect, 
and fear future.  
We begin to ask, 
who am I, 
what is life, 
why do we live, 
and sometime, 
why live. 

And this heightened 
self-awareness, we affirm, 
out of hubris, 
or stupidity, 
is the pinnacle 
of all existence.  Despite knowing 
that others live their lives, 
happily enough, 
or perhaps, more happily, 
without self-awareness.

More importantly, 
it never occurs to us, 
that there could equally 
be higher levels of lives, 
which we can never know.  Just like, 
the father-sparrow, 
nesting on the ceiling fan in our verandah, 
not seemingly 'knowing' himself, often 
fighting with his image in the mirror, nearby; 
could not possibly 'know' us, 
despite living with us, 
and feeding on 'our' grains and pests; 
for one that doesn't know self, 
can really know nothing else.

What if we are sparrows 
to some others?

And they, in turn, to yet others?

What makes us certain, 
if not our ignorance, 
willful or otherwise?

-

owais.