In The First Place

Without a self
To be shamed — be proud
The yardstick against which
Words and deeds are measured
Disappears
It’s found neither outside — in others’
Nor inside — in no self

Words and deeds
Come into their own
Their existence — self-verifying
Self-sufficient
Un-implicating the hand, the mouth

Right action, non-action
Is action for its own sake
Spontaneous
Efficient and sufficient

The effect or result of such action
Is exactly the same —
As the action
There’s no delay, no separation
Between the done, or the deed
And the outcome

And no one
To take credit
Or be shamed
In the first place

It’s not the human
Nor can it be the absent self
That gets liberated
It’s only and always the deed
Speech and the action
That does