In Defence Of Thought

This little mind —
This automatic, self-starting machinery
Of thinking, labelling, planning, scheming, judging
Of plotting, wanting, hoping, replaying

This self-starting machine
Powered by blood, breath and food —
Why expect it to stop
Why would you wish it silent

Why would you want that little
Solar-powered light in your backyard
Not to light up —
After a whole day soaking up the sun

So it is with this mind —
Why believe that someone, somewhere —
Sitting with glazed eyes
On a mountaintop or a podium
Before an audience
Whose photos and statues you bow to
Whose beatific gaze — ocean-deep
Whose benevolent smile
You revere —

How did you get the idea
When did you start believing
That that one — over there —
Does not think, plan, label
Judge, want, or scheme

Who started this myth —
That thought is the enemy
Dangerous, evil and wrong —
Something to silence, control
To numb, dumb, purify, harness
Like a wild beast

That you need books and courses
Teachers, teachings
To learn to use your own mind

Do you need lectures
To learn how to feel through your skin
How to see, smell, and hear

When you catch the scent of rose —
Or the stink of manure —
Do you run to a specialist
Because you are sensing too much

When you feel the cold or heat
When you see light, shadow, dark —
Do you panic
Because the world looks different

Why not thought, then —
Judging, loving, angry, kind —
Why should these not arise
What’s wrong with that

Why does thought get all the blame
For a stab, for the murder, for a curse
Why not the knife, the hand, the eyes
The tongue

Why does thought get all the hype —
For what’s built, destroyed and written
Why not the materials, the muscles and motor skills

What has thought done so wrong
That cultures, books, teachers
Entire industries
Come after it with a hatchet —
To tame it, subdue it —
All the while driven by it

But are you driven by thought —
Or your legs
If your legs were broken —
Would thought take you to work
If your skin were burned —
Would thought cause your pain

Does a tree scream in summer
When it's swarmed with leaves
Do you want your breath and heart
To stop going — 24/7

So what if thought goes on
Where else but in silence
Does it go
Why do you want it silenced —
When it is forever
And already
In it

Why would you want the boat to vanish
While you’re still sailing the river