Wisdom
doesn't buy freedom
between the two
I'll choose the latter
in my freedom
I'll work towards wisdom-
this certainly is better

Don't say:
'I can't help it'
you certainly can
if you'll keep your wit

When I return
will I be a better person
or still unchanged
with my faults unbroken?

If so, it'd be preferable then
that I don't return--I'd be empty-handed
with nothing to celebrate, no story to relate
a moral failure,  scorned and disregarded

Life becomes lighter
if you learn to let go
if held tighter
the self will not grow

it will be fettered
its space will be constrained
freedom will be curbed
living will be endlessly strained

That I am being admired means nothing to me:

I should accept what I am and not be affected by the opinion of others

Being simple
is very hard
that's why
people easily lose heart

who would be willing to let go
of their cherished comfort-zone?
in their anxiety and fear, doing so
would mean themselves they no longer own

such is typical human nature
which is insular and self-directed
with its boundary clearly drawn
every move carefully calibrated

over time, the self hardens
change is no longer possible:
it has been cast in the hardest steel
and is no longer malleable

It must be grounded

on moderation and reality

lest one becomes deluded