The Work


We do not see things as they are —
We see them as we are.
Is there something that you want?
Something you ain’t got?
They make you work as well do they
At your age?
Gasped the kind German at the gates.
How old do you think I am?
Sixty at least.
I am fourteen.

For knowledge add something everyday
For wisdom subtract —
Who told you to deny nothing but doubt everything?
We may keep it hidden from birth or stumble sailing
Our endless course, inchoate with pebbledash
Lost in thoughtless umbilical television roads.
Yes, we all must bury our own selves deep no
So we can rise up and belly laugh at the digger
Digging how Dukkha makes reality repeatable.
We need the merry go-round for the first time
We may have missed something.

He is just about to say something more,
But other guards interrupt us.
They want us to go to the garden.
Once we are in the garden
They tell us that Hitler has been sentenced to death
And is to be buried alive
They give me a shovel and order me
To dig the hole but I refuse
The guard then turns to Hitler
And tells him that his life will be spared
If he is willing to dig a hole for me
He looks at me and I know that he knows
What I have done
He takes the shovel
And begins to dig
I plead with him
With the guards but it makes no difference
Then, with the hole only half complete
He is ordered to stop.
Once again the guard tells me that Hitler has been
Sentenced to death and is to be buried alive
This time I take the shovel
And I start to dig.