Veil of Dreams

How is it that we cannot see
through the veil of dreams.
Living our dreams as if
they have so much import;
yet they are just fantasies,
distortions, hallucinations:
just painted pictures,
ugly or beautiful.

It is that we live outside ourselves,
with all our longings.
We create outside us
a fantasy of longings,
and as our creation grows vaster
so does our need
to keep this outside dream alive.

So a vast delusion we mask
over an unreflecting world.
And one day our vast empire
comes smashing down
and crushes our long
forgotten inner world.

A knowing arises that yes
our contorted picture
is not in accord
with the way things are.
Something has gone wrong,
drastically wrong.

As the dust settles once again,
we pick ourselves up, and carry on.
Ever willing to create another dream.
Yet few see wiser that
tragedy can be a revelation:
what is the way that is not this?
How to see the real
rather than create the fictitious?

No more shocking
surprises for the wise,
as they see clearly what is
without from within.
To look out from within,
we cannot be taken outside
and then thrown painfully back
to ourselves – no matter what
the apparent turmoil around us.

Reality does not reflect us,
we reflect reality.