Two Halves of Life
By Bill Cottringer

First the ego separates,
Then the soul rejoins,
Separating this and that,
Into right and wrong,
Annoying differences,
Not getting our wants,
Too many bruises,
A few broken bones;
Then comes wisdom.
Back to the oneness,
Just imagined away,
Finally looking past
All this or that
And clearly seeing
Both this and that;
Exchanging things—
Emptiness for fullness,
Turmoil for peace,
Questions for answers,
Everything for nothing.
And despite appearances,
It’s progressing quite well,
But only seen that way
In the second half of life.