By Henry Frumkin

Part 1 – Refraction
The pen lays inside a cup of water, was
it bent or was it all but light?
The pen was neither, a glimmer in their eyes, refracted
to all who saw. Looking for an answer, beyond
the question, turning water to wine or blood.
They saw the cup half empty, or full to the brim, yet
missed the cup itself.
The water, it was transparent, refracting
light as the sun passed above.
His footsteps crossed the cold dark water, walking
past the village nearby.
Those in the village, they watched, their minds occupied.
To some he was light, to others, only refraction.
They watched the man, rather than the river he walked.
cogito ergo sum
Part 2 – The River
Heraclitus, stood in the distance, far from the village.
He observed the figure, interpreting its supremacy.
His melancholy eyes, they wandered,
as the figure approached the shore.
His thoughts left his writing unfinished,
“can anything ever be finished”, he said.
His thoughts, a constant flux, he questioned every answer.
Ideas flowed, like the river in his mind.
His pencil carved the stained white paper, upon which he wrote,
No man ever steps in the same river twice, 1
for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.
cogito ergo sum
Part 3 – Desire
The eyes miss what the heart sees.
To the mind that is still the whole universe surrenders. 2
Lao Tzu, did not speak,
He who knows, does not speak. 3
He who speaks, does not know.
The figure occupied the villagers’ minds with desire,
the root of unhappiness.
Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. 4
Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
And your heart will never unclench.
Care about people’s approval
And you will be their prisoner.
cogito ergo sum
Footnotes:

1- Heraclitus
2- Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
3- Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)
4- Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching)