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Van Gogh's Hope

by John Chaplain

I

In the consideration of my perceived death,
Either there will be reincarnation of consciousness,
Or there will not be reincarnation of consciousness.

Simply because there is a possibility
There might be reincarnation of consciousness,
Means there may be a further consequence
Of there being poverty on the Earth,
Because however small the probability
I might be reborn into poverty on the Earth

And in considering the starry night
I hope other conscious life-forms
Are understanding this the same as me
And acting upon their understanding,
Because if there were reincarnation of consciousness,
It would perhaps not be upon this Earth,
But might well be upon another Earth
Where it were possible for there to be another Earth,

An Earth of which I could only hope was free from poverty,
For even if I had all the riches that I wanted,
I’d still wish reincarnation of consciousness for eternity
Onto Earths of non-poverty, democracy and opportunity
To protect and preserve continuity.

II

I imagine, in resurrection I have lived for a million years,
The same people, the same places
Fill my head and I pine for rebirth
And not this throbbing mind of memory,
A supposed bliss, yet absent of opportunity
To protect and preserve as necessity.

Oh, how a million years ago,
I would have wished to be
Just born again anew
On planets behind the stars
And to travel the galaxies
Sensing evolution’s infinite possibilities…

With only one desire
And that to be free to do as I choose,
I would need Earths of non-poverty and democracy
Simply for cosmological travel insurance!

But of course, I seem mortal
And while I hope there is no way
To send me to the imagined hell,
I also hope for nature to reawaken me,
Regardless of my morality
And in strict accordance
With my favoured explanatory:

Because there is incarnation of consciousness,
Is there not reincarnation of consciousness
And for eternity?


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