Dog Ideal
without the need to stifle the cry of consciousness
through drink or drug or violent distraction,
disinclined to wreak havoc on self or other
free of the sustained illusion of written words
and images, with their enduring damage
or turning to the senseless spell of art for oblivion
their memories are not material
but perish at birth, still-born
always the present, unoppressed
by the burden of past or future
the unspoken and unspeakable
without the complication of human sophistication
or impossible longings beyond dog and dog world
they dream of food, shelter, air
and wake to find them there
without false divisions
among mind/body/soul
so without perversions
honest in their need to give and receive
a love neither tormented nor tormenting
nursing their wounds without meditation,
which is the creation of more suffering
a spirituality of the earth
a piety and humility that accepts
the man and God-given crumb
expects nothing
unconcerned with the pursuit of truth
and other lies
they live in Truth
never lost in the labyrinth of self
they are without self-image,
thus without self-deception
blissfully unaware of Schopenhauer's Pendulum
which from pain to boredom swings
their tails sway contentedly
always at home, in their bodies
nonchalantly, watching the world pass by
with benign curiosity and sideways glance
slipping in and out of untroubled sleep
they do not know the gloom
of deliberately darkened rooms
suspicions, fears and worries
real confounded with unfounded
or artificially purchased dreams
long after an inexhaustible mind
has exhausted its hapless frame
without question, they accept the deposits of Fate
without the added interest of personal doubts
questioning their place in the universe*
unconcerned with peace, justice
and other human nonsense
impervious to the charm of philosophy or psychology
the conceit of thought, the paralysis of analysis
all idle speculation, and monstrous civilization
neither prisoners of Time
nor victims of temperament
without necessary occupations
or unnecessary preoccupations
with sanity
out of reach
out of reach
out of reach…
work like a dog
live like a dog
die like a dog.
I hope you enjoyed this meditation. Below, is a video of me reading it: