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Writer's pictureViveka Om

Everyday People

Maitri and Karuna, and Sly & The Family Stone

The ocean of cosmic forces

rising in and falling out;

a wave cannot crash into itself.

Mystery and possibility in play;

terror at the edge of awareness

begging questions to unravel

the conceptual knots of I, me, and mine.


Living is a supreme courage,

invited upon us

whether by chance or fate or necessity.

We are breathing each other's breath

gripped by gravity

climbing over each other

no meaningful distance closer to the sun

no meaningful distance further from our graves.


What kind of hardness must we endure,

to kill tenderness and warmth?

To shield ourselves from pain

we dehumanize each other;

we make objects out of other living creatures.

We sacrifice our dignity to deny it in others.

We shrink our love of life,

with every indifferent act.


A joyless and pitiful prison our comfort has made

so lonely and afraid of what we most need and crave,

we covet validation and tremble at rejection.

Connections that nurture remind us

we have traded for convenience, for profit, and security.

Loving kindness, maitri and karuna,

softens the meanness and turmoil of life

reminding us of what cannot be gained or lost.


Broken hearts, lives lost, and every dream deferred

power and possibility remain undiminished.

Nothing but our own ignorance, fear, and indolence

can keep us from a world awake

uncompromisingly devoted to fostering

love, equity, and justice.

No heavenly or extraterrestrial presence required,

we will see this world rebirthed through effort of

Everday People (Sly & The Family Stone).

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