Kundalini Splendor

The Solitary Ecstatic

When you ask me
why I keep doing this,
I answer
Why not?

When you point out
that at my age
I should act more sensibly,
find better things to do,
not set such a bad example for the young,
I reply
Why not?

When you complain
that this is a one person path,
and compare me to
a strumpet or a sybarite,
a hedonist with no concern for others,
I shrug,
Why not?

When you press the issue,
say what about the world
and its sad state,
how will this help
to go dancing about
and scribbling questionable verses
like a madwoman
under the moon,
I respond,
Why not?

When you protest
that there is serious work
to do all around,
that we cannot afford
to waste our time
pleasing ourselves in frivolities
like children playing with musical toys,
I smile,
Why not?

Do your know how
the universe works,
how it speaks to us,
tells us what we must give up,
surrender, embrace,
if we are to survive,
be charged with life?
Why not this food for everyone?
Why not?

Dorothy Walters
April 18, 2008