V. 2. / 126.) Rigid The Lines Of Sight In An Age-Old Idea

Rigid the lines of sight in an age-old idea:

Deviate for one moment and they will

Swoop down upon you in their wrath.

Breathing silent accusations of heresy

They run to counter, and annul you with their inside look;

Bristling in indignation they discard your work

They turn, move away, and feel themselves superior

Which they are; they are perfect; they have no glaring faults –

As you do; they are noble; you are utterly alone.

If they seek to understand what you write

With their own capabilities, they will struggle;

And since this is humiliating it is not to be borne:

To save face, to save their own skins, they reject yours.

If they cannot understand what you write

Then they say it is you who are at fault, not they.

If they should ever find in your lines, that which excels –

That which exceeds their own wisdom –

Then watch how quickly they will block it in their minds:

Moving feverishly to impose their rules –

Above your idiocies – and drown you out – anything to stop

You – from being better than them in their own eyes.

They have not known nor understood: they have shut their eyes

So that they cannot see and know what they don’t want to know.

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