Another poem inspired by Mowgli came about as Mowgli seeks to reintegrate into the man village.  It seems that many of us cage ourselves by definition dwelling on the things that separate us rather than sharing in the commonalities.  None of which is to say that we should be afraid to stand firm in who we are.  But, to say that our differences are perhaps best suited in teaching others and their differences in instructing us by showing and sharing the world through the eyes of many rather than just our own or just a few? Maybe I’m talking more to myself than anyone else, especially as my birthday rapidly approaches and I realize how little wisdom it is that I’ve gained in these many years.

Caged In Differences
by Michael Romani

What is different
Must be hated
This vanity of man
Is never sated

We keep to cages
In degrees of separation
Lost within our pages
Kept closed in desperation

Denying our emotions
Keeping tears to self
Miscast in strained devotions
Putting our curiosity on the shelf

Forgetting what it is to dare
To dare to love those different
Always taught to beware
Scared to be properly reverent

So scared of things that are nothing
Plagued into believing only in the same
Forever fearful of what tomorrow brings
We never learn all is part of that one name

(c) December 22, 2018  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserved