another soul?
When I peel past the emotions
(mine and theirs)
lay aside the judgments
forget about what I think
and want
and know...
When I put in a new set of eyeballs
and forget how that person used to look
and the ways my old eyes mis-saw their actions...
When I place my sweet little toes
into their tattered workboots...
or their high heels...
I feel the miles they have walked
I see the things their mother taught them about the world
I hear their version of truth
And I understand.
But it takes so much time!
Understanding a soul,
excavating the truth about another person,
can take days...
weeks...
years...
lifetimes...
We would easily spend a lifetime getting to know the soul of a friend
but what about all those we don't hold friendly feelings for?
Reacting with anger
and dwelling on their faults
is much easier!
Bad mouthing them to our friends feels good
We even feel justified.
But this is not the root of all things.
That root could be ultimate truth
or love
but I can't quite reach it.
I keep dawdling on the surface and looking at the leaves.
Some day I will dig.
