At the bottom of the well, the air is damp and

it’s so dark I barely see my hands.

Down here, I move through my memory without

interference from the above-ground world –

I think so clearly that I travel through walls and

jump into dreams and hop back out.

What is the self? And can I exert my will to

create a new self – free from the baggage of

my past? Down in the well, this is possible:

True Enlightenment.

Sunlight reaches me for thirty seconds each day,

and when it hits me, it’s as if God’s grace fills me.

I may starve down here, I may die of thirst,

but I’m unafraid. At the bottom of this well,

I fear nothing – and everything is within

the grip of my mind.

(Photo by Maria Krasnova on Unsplash)

Note: This poem was inspired by a recurrent theme in a novel by Haruki Murakami entitled, “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.”