Hungry Monkey

happy Mara

high in her chair

face aglow

lit with the inner

fire of joy

that comes from being

well loved

face asmear

hand grasping

in her cup

the greatest of all treasures

the sources of all pleasure

cheerios

a hungry monkey

we too are sometimes 

hungry monkeys

more than ready

to grab hold of something

anything

that we think we need

that we must have to survive

sadly

often

what we grasp is no treasure

but something which traps us

we are like people whose fist is snared

within a jar

who cannot be freed

unless

we open our hand and drop

that which we have so tightly held

 in China they trap monkeys with 

rice and a hollow coconut

what traps us?

what do we hold on to that makes us a prisoner

of our own making?

what do we need to let go of

that we might open our hands

and receive

the treasures that are everywhere

life should not

be lived like a fist

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