Poetic response to Lao Tzu, Chapter 2

THESE ORDINARY THINGS

These things which each day

run circles in our minds

create phenomenal performances,

using the brain for a stage.

Doing pirouettes, leaping higher

than air, thick or thin, they don’t

seem to care.

Attempting to drift like rose petals

in a storm, using our astonished

eyes all the while as spotlights.

Dipping low as rainfall

seeking its own level.

Twirling near, then far in

effortless pas de deux.

Yet their incessant drama seems

incomprehensible, beyond our reach.

These ordinary things are short as

time, and just as long; both right and

wrong, like harmony and song.

Still we pursue their meanings until

we stumble upon some ancient truth,

claiming victory with a gasp,

yet running last.

- don brennan Tao Ch. 2