The Examined
or Unexamined Life
for G.N.M.O.M.

how many layers down
how many layers deep

are you able to look
are you able to see
are you able to read
are you able to reach

mind, trained, a keen mind
able to look through
able to see through

capable of intellectual activity
way out of the ordinary

how many layers down
are you able to read
are you able to reach

how deep is the intellect
how deepened is the intellect

with what delicate matters
is it able to connect

what is it able to collect
re-assort, reassemble

what is it able to make
of the jumble of this world
of the jungle of this world

of the dog-eat-dog
of rat racing with rats

I am concerned about
the point of being-
of the choice of being
more or less human

faced these days
with the choice to kill
or to be killed

in these times, in this place
here where every day is no more
than another day in Paradise

who among us is thinking twice

how many among us acting
without thinking at all


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2011
4:00 p.m. 14.09.11