Blindness (repost)

Since we see the world

as we are, not as it is

what can we call truth?

Once all men believed

the world was flat and earth

the center of all.

Therefore, is the truth

that which is generally

accepted by most?

Is that what is meant

when we posit what is true

versus what is lie?

Is the one who sees

this truth, the sighted one while

the other is blind?

Entire cultures

have been subjugated and

demeaned or despised

by majorities;

does that make the beliefs held

the god’s-honest truth?

And he who accepts

this revered, time-honored truth

is sighted, not blind?

When one sees with eyes

veiled with contempt and hatred

is what one sees truth?

When fear dominates,

predators are everywhere

empathy is not;

is what the fearful

sees the honest-to-god truth?

Or another lie?

Pollyanna sees

the glass half full, not empty;

is her truth, untrue?

Is her pleasant truth

less true or more of a lie

since it is pleasing?

Are not eyes that see

only goodness just as blind

as their opposite?

Eyes that do not see

may glimpse beauty and yet still

deny it exists.

Eyes unfettered by

belief systems that judge and

affect one’s vision

belong to children;

innocent, unblemished souls

that die in childhood.

Sadly, blindness is

the natural state of all men

and women with eyes

that see with hearts that

fear, hate, desire, envy,

crave, adore and love.