Remember When

A poem from the collection:

"Memory and the Construction of Histories" by Colin Read / Reade Collins.

Soon to be available in paper back and ePub

Remember when
The paths to
The eternal way
Were petalled with
Dharma, artha,
Kama, and moksha;
And karma allocated
The burdens
Of our goodness
(And our badness)
In our saṃsāra?

Remember when
The dead Pharaohs
Incanted their
Pyramid’s texts
Transformed to Akh
And walked as one
With the gods?

Remember when
Moses spoke
With god
On Mount Sinai
And a covenant for life
Was written in stone?

Remember when
Confucius wrote
Five classics
And taught
In a hundred schools
Of thought?

Remember when
The kami and jingi
Were everywhere
And in everything?

Remember when
Life was in harmony
With the Tao;
wu wei was simple and spontaneous;
And there was
Compassion,
Moderation,
Humility?

Remember when
Jesus blessed the outcasts
The disadvantaged
The powerless
And those who are
“Not Us”,
And urged us to
Believe and
Love one another?

Remember when
Muhammad reassured us
Of the fitra of humanity;
That god is one,
Merciful, omnipotent
And unique?

Remember when
The humanists respected
The unity and value
Of all
And we were considered
More than the sum
Of our parts?

Remember when?
Remember when?
Remember when?

Look around you

Remember when…