When a monkey starts to dream
he dreams of seeing the world,
wondering beyond the horizon
and further on besides.
Everywhere that’s not the safety of home.
So he begins his journey
into the great vast world.
But there’s so much to see
that he can’t take it all in.
So he looks at each little thing in turn;
He separates them out.
And to make sure that they are distinct
he gives each a name.
He soon realises
that this takes far too long.
So he’ll put each thing with similar things
and then only look at one.
He soon notices
that his system doesn’t work.
Things don’t fit into just one group,
they all merge into one.
Each thing makes no sense completely alone
a tree couldn’t survive if it was on its own.
The river and the bank
swap all the time.
So notes must be made
of give and take, back and forth
and much more besides.
And after a while he starts to ponder
“Have I missed something out?
Is what I see all that’s there
or is there something more? ”
He also starts to question
the reason for all things.
Is beauty or balance enough to explain?
Is there purpose, a plan, a mistake?
Are some things better than others he wonders?
Faster, stronger, prettier, brighter
or is there just good and evil?
And where does it come from
all this stuff?
What point marks the beginning?
What came first the land or the sea
and why did a bird start to sing?
What about me,
where do I fit in this chaos?
Do I simply observe
or have an active role?
Am a the same as everything else
or am I different,
better (or worse) so how?
When the monkey Wakes from his dream,
he looks to the horizon and thinks
am I better to stay where I am?
Alison Jayne Nicholson
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-a-monkey-starts-to-dream/
