unknown unknowns

by Roberto Lavidez

it is easy

to forget

that we live

in a world

of unknown

unknowns

we get carried

away by the

simplicity of

our intuition

disposed

to trust

one man’s

claim to

infallibility

fear of

uncertainty

should

keep us

in check

while

recognizing

insight

that comes

from the

brain attic

serving as

a reminder

a reinforcement

that ensures

that knowledge

never goes stale

peering into

the expanding

world of codes

and cryptology

or plunging

headlong into

an undertaking

of giving worth

to questions

and meaning

to otherwise

meaningless

answers

firing up the

boilers of

the greatest

engine in

history

striking back

even in defeat

and facing the

possibility of

unanticipated

nonlinear

changes that

may result

from systems

which could

be extremely

difficult

to model

because

they are

mathematically

intractable

though it is

easy to 

slip into

fragmenting

reality and

making

ephemera of

the fragments

blurring the line

between reality

and illusion

it is up to us

to allow

imagination

to encircle

the world

and not

allow hubris

and limited

knowledge

in the guise

of complexity

to control

and define

this constructed

world

we often

fail to

consider the

improbable

because

our minds

dismiss it as

impossible

but the web

of interactions

tends to

bootstrap itself

over time

heightening

the flexibility

of response to

distinguishing

fact from

fantasy

it is up to us

the collective

human ego

to continue

living in 

a world

of unknown

unknowns

©robertolavidez2013

the strangeness

of certain facts

by Roberto Lavidez

there is

no need

to play

politics

or to seek

riches and

renown

who knows

perhaps

life is really

death

the demand

to change

consciousness

amounts to

a demand

to interpret

reality in a

different way

it is not 

sufficient

to love truth

by no means

merely 

a problem

of knowledge

but a real 

problem

of life

the strangeness

of certain facts

could be

followed

immediately

by a figure

of fiction

what appears

as a means

becomes

an end

in acquiring

a new need

perhaps

there is a

sense and

intelligence

in it

but at the

same time

also a flicker

of madness

or it could be

the other way

around

like the west

mixing with

the east in 

a thought

complex

that defies

definition

the conclusion

to be drawn

from all this

appears to be

the guilt and

innocence

and hence

right and

wrong are

existentially

ambiguous

in spite of

all the 

torturous

inner struggle

all estrangement

of the human

essence is

therefore 

nothing but 

estrangement of 

self-consciousness

steering between

the opposite

extremes of

timidity and

rashness

becoming

moments of

motion as

man’s state

of existence

and being

which have

no validity

in isolation

but dissolve

and engender

one another

intrusions from

other worlds

whose entirety

remains unknown

and whose logic

escapes us

presents a

history

independently 

of the 

existence of

any political 

or religious 

nonsense

which would

especially hold

men together

a medley 

of languages 

and an 

individual

discord 

of voices

would be

accompanied

by a profound

spiritual unrest

lusting for the

heavenly 

beauty of 

a goddess

out of 

mawkish

sense of

repentance

for how 

can one have 

a good 

conscience

if he was not

conscious of

anything

man must war

with themselves

with their

weaknesses

and their sins

if we want

to know what

sort of people

will come

after us

or we could

become the

sacrifices to

a loathsome

and filthy war

who knows

perhaps life

is really death

a real

appropriation

of the human

essence 

by and for 

man

©robertolavidez2013

necessity of

liberation

by Roberto Lavidez

however

unexpected

and

venturesome

it might be

some men’s

having

must not be

allowed to

constitute

an obstacle

to other’s

having

even if

only within

the compass

of eternity

that the said

problem

allows

of finding a

complete

solution

by recalling

ancient history

and events

that had

long passed

from memory

knowledge of

reality through

common

reflection

and action

at the mercy

of all sorts

of absurd

and even

insane

notions

emancipation

of mankind

should

open up

to every

possibility

that should

be tried to

the utmost

and nothing

should be

ignored that

offered any

hope

wandering off

into the sphere

of the

transcendent

or transforming

the animate

into something

inanimate

is not a sign

of life

but a sign

of death

and decay

on the 

other hand

if man’s

will is

invariably

bound up

with a

condition of

dependence

no human

understanding

will ever bring

in a position

to fathom how

it is possible

to raise him

above the

level of

animality or

that it is

impossible

that he should

ever be

entirely

free from

the pathology

of love

through

domination

of others

but who can

better

understand

the necessity

of liberation

but the

oppressed

whose

obedience to

predetermined

order of things

and impaired

perception of

themselves

by their

submission

in the reality

of oppression

should empty

the utterances

stored in their

hearts and minds

and realize

that they are

more than

tortoises who are

secure against

all blows only

when they are 

drawn up

inside their shells

©robertolavidez2013

never a pause

by Roberto Lavidez

there is

a rising tide

all over

the world

wherein the

common man

who is about

to be swept

with the

debris

of history

still aspires

to higher and

wider horizons

cultivating

values

of moral

rectitude

and spiritual

sensitivity

in response

to claims

of conscience

and terrible

trial by fire

from under

a dark cloud

such is the

wretched

condition

of man

obliged

to seek

consolation

for nature’s

evils

in society and

consolation for

society’s

evils

in nature

it seems that

man is corrupted

more by reason

than by passion

associated with

the clash of

righteous steel

that would

thicken

the blood

and callous

the hands

conceding the

inevitable flaws

that accompany

even the best

of intentions

there is never

a pause

cultivating

an obsession

with authority

in the

human race

undermining

the culture of

sympathy

solidarity and

the gentle

elements of

the maternal

struggle for

the lives

of others

where

powers

that be

resort to

violence

against the

weak and

defenseless

striking the

delicate man

with the

lightning bolt

of law

justice and

civility

hailing

the birth of a

postmodern

world

reconstructed

by doctrinal

systems

and inoculated

by terror and

repression

©robertolavidez2013

this side of life

by Roberto Lavidez

to know

a thing

is to live

in its

environment

instead of

wrapping

disillusion

in the

falsehoods

of fiction

to know

everything

about

the known

the unknown

the nonexistent

what lies

beneath and

what lies

above

there are some

unimpeachable

truth

amid all

the nonsense

and entire

preoccupation

with the gross

materialistic

side of life

instead of

trying to be

the hero

of his own

history

man seeks

to be

the spectator

of his own

tragedy

a sight for

the angels

to weep over

as he plunges

headlong

into

the abyss

breathing

uncertainty

and

bewilderment

contained

in some

moment

of abasement

by the terrible

alchemy

of egotism

a colossal

chessboard

that extends

beneath

the earth

into gigantic

concentric

circles of

heartlessness

either by 

carrying

burdens

in silence or

by remembering

the bitterness

of the past

by exposing

problems

in thunder

claps

followed by

the wind

of polemics

or realizing

in the end

that the soul

of a man

will always

remain

unknowable

©robertolavidez2013