At times I look back and grimace at the shallowness.
A soul void of substance and form has nothing to give.
I see for the first time clear as daylight that it's a hollow Earth.
Oh, you see men and women and I say it's smoke and space.
I speak as one returned by transformation's kiss from the dead.
Clear seeing is only available to those with the courage to open their eyes.
Oh the world is bewitching with it's glamorous lies. 
We scramble to deny the delicious humanness
Oh humans with your petty games and jealous natures.
Yet we build marvels, we compose music, and we strive for the stars.
We feast on the suffering and blood of our animal brothers and sisters
Yet we also can love unabashedly and compassionately.
In myself I see the contradiction and the paradox.
I'm a coward and a fool, fake and phony.
Yet I'm brave and outspoken, bold and fearless.
Somewhere in the back something nags.
If I and we embody contradiction, can it be true?
It's either or neither?
It's the paradox that must be embraced
The bitter pill to swallow.
In owning all the darkness and shadow
Is the only way back to the brilliant sunlight.