mental misfortune

by Roberto Lavidez

the solid

ground

under our feet

succumbs to

complete

skepticism

the open road

is brought

to ruin

how much

is real

how much

is feigned

how much

is rendered

possible

through the

instrumentality

of practical

reason

everything

is left for

time and

circumstances

to unfold

one is already

insensitive to

the ugliness

and noisiness

of all direct

dialectics

having sifted

our wisdom

eminently

uncommon in

the accepted

sense

through a sieve

of contempt

looking for

the answer

of a riddle

when we

were called

upon to discern

what was to be

regarded as

inherently good

or inherently evil

the failure

to see this

is simply

mental

misfortune

in pursuit

of mere

phantoms

of the brain

a protest

against

the great

doctrine of

identity

sinking one’s

whole being

towards

annihilation

out of trying

to determine

its intent

with all due

reverence

and fear

as there is

no scientific

proof of

freedom

if there is

to be a

summum

bonum

in the world

it is opposed

by dangerous

conjectures in

ill-breeding

minds

by organized

herd instincts

by the timidity

of the weak

in the spirit of

the pessimism

of indignation

©robertolavidez2014

clash of rival wills

by Roberto Lavidez

nothing 

could be 

easier 

if one 

could do 

what one 

wishes

but things

are done

differently

these days

the mistake

irreversible

the clash of 

rival wills

determined

not to be

annoyed

by trifles

and tinkering

with tiny

mechanisms

reveal ways

that oppose

expectations

to pave the 

way toward

evolutionary

thinking

imagination

fails to create

a world of

inverted logic

in the eternal

language of

dancing eyes

which is

supposed to

cut through 

all difficulties

and put an end

to all doubts

casting aside

the growing

aimlessness

from a

somewhat

less informed

perspective

conspicuous

deeds failing

to follow words

appearing

to exist in

a different

universe

it would take

an unquenchable

curiosity and

a monomaniacal

sense of purpose

to compliment

all sorts

of things

or the world

would be

reduced to a

monotonous

blur

mankind

is only 

et cetera

its needless

waste of life

and shocking

cruelties

struggling

between

the shades

of night

and the

light of 

dawn

©robertolavidez2014

the box of 
our thinking

by Roberto Lavidez

it was hard

for survivors

of the

darkest night

of human

history

to judge

the truth

to debate

whether

an answer

to the problem

is theological

or not

feeling

atomized

rootless

disconnected

and confused

the terror is

in the air and

quite palpable

when it begins

to grow

the frightening

truth is that

we have no

idea

we are quite

ignorant

of the cause

of all

these strange

conditions

everything

seemed to

come from

everything

trying to

make sense

of everything

that had

happened

there is

no end

of dead

and rubbish

all together

the fittest

live on

because they

are the fittest

what else

can you do

we cannot

put god in

the box of

our thinking

with such

a blurred and

incomplete

picture

emotions

may prove

to be even

more

formidable

to surmount

once they

boil over

into fighting

waiting to see

what the dawn

would bring

to those

deemed savage

and those

deemed civilized

the relation

between self

and world

and between self

and other selves

could awaken

memories

too difficult

to bear

proud human 
beings could be

transformed into

scavenging animals

lost in the many

colored void

as we look

at the mangled

body of
the victim

we tend 
to forget

that he was

once a person

©robertolavidez2014

the desire

to get away

by Roberto Lavidez

the pattern

of change

is of a long

period of

little change

delving into

the great

mysteries

of life and

death

in its desire

to get away

from hierarchy

eternally

going through

the motions

of some

meaningless

dance

subjected to

the most cruel

persecution

we were

becoming

victims

of the

complexity

of our ideas

and whimsical

product of a

deranged mind

each following

the one

before it

as if by

processes

of inevitable

circumstance

weaving

myth

legend

fact and

fantasy

without regard

for the sanctity

of cherished

scholarly

beliefs

man’s

ceaseless

struggle to

achieve

his destiny

by imbuing

the myriad

elements of

life with

meaning

have been 

couched in 

different terms

when suffering

is brought up

into language

and spoken

overcome

with a

sickening

feeling of

loneliness

and despair

everything is

screwed up

so deeply

beauty

in culture

becomes

a rarity

passion

for justice

fades

the evolution

of human

intelligence

stops

it just

happens

to turn out

that way

©robertolavidez2014

logical impasse

by Roberto Lavidez

nothing in

human affairs

is predestinable

all painful

memories

of the past

and anxieties

about the future

are not what

they are and

are what they

are not

a melancholy

amounting

almost to

panic

a serious life

means being

fully aware of

the alternatives

but there is

nothing left

by which

the world

can profit

like a flight

of steps

descending

thrusting

all our

conceptions

to the wall

the fits of

despondency

caused by

untoward

incidents in

the struggle

for existence

increasingly

obliged

to concede

the sacrificial

impulse

cannot alleviate

its outcome

no solidarity

in defense

of the pursuit

of truth

a festering sore

a source of

suspicion and

resentment

had we not

done such

and such then

so and so

would never

have happened

by reason of

the presence

of an abnormally

preponderating

intellect

running into

a logical

impasse

asking questions

to understand

the ineradicable

character of evil

which allowed

amusing answers

to inner

enslavement

indecency and

degradation

of senseless acts

carrying out

poetic 

imagination

known to analyze

the sudden rash

of interest

into the

light of day

©robertolavidez2014

what man is

by Roberto Lavidez

when reality is

explicitly put

as what it

implicitly is

all that

matters is 

to get one’s

meaning

through it

lying at

the root

of ambiguity

makes one

wonder

whether

we are

turning

a deaf ear

to history

in what

could only

be described

as farce

the most

significant

predicament

of the

modern age

is to rise

above the

level of

the beasts

conveying the 

human tragedy

as it has occurred

human being

by human being

man is not

wholly

determined

by instinct

when existence

is interpenetrated

with reflection

as though

on the brink

of a chasm

he that is

really wise

can never be

perplexed

between

what is to be

taken as

meaningful

and what is

meaningless

coming to a

better grasp

of what man is

and can become

as a participant

in a community

of inquiry

man does

not have

the luxury

any longer

of indulging

his prejudices

requiring evil

to accomplish

the good

likely to

bring about

unintended

consequences

from which

there may be

no completely

acceptable escape

©robertolavidez2014

a touch of dignity

by Roberto Lavidez

every citizen

had an 

equal voice

in deciding 

how to be 

governed

everyone 

would

become a

predictable 

figure in the 

tapestry

filtering out

anything that

contradicts

official wisdom

most of the

cynicism and

passivity has

to do with

the feeling

that nothing

anyone does

will make

any difference

blaming those

who use big

words and

talk about

big things

for all the

evils in

the world

the only one

with sense

deals with

nonsense

pattern of

exploitation

enmeshed in

unmanageable

connections

between

politics and

personal

morality

offering

a touch

of dignity

to the losers

of the earth

a mind which

taught one

to reason

away from

his own mind

one where

each man

is expected

to look after

himself

living in a

spiritual state

wary of

the world

where what

seems pleasure

is only essential

corruption

suggestions

of the divine

and the demonic

good and evil

are like 

transparent

images almost

superimposed

a symbiosis

based on

mutual

dependency

 ©robertolavidez2014