Truth’s Nakedness
by Odin Roark

To give up,
suffer defeat.

Or…

To surrender,
giving oneself
to that which one is.

Such is our choice of destiny,
of willingness to live
embracing pain,
realizing pleasure,
accepting paradox.
our potential beyond the obvious.

Yet…

So many,
the woman on the bus,
the homeless astride his belongings-bag,
the maimed veterans,
the wounded innocents
existing without a cause.

Much of humanity is shamelessly ignorant,
of little consciousness,
without principles
hiding in secure bubbles of defense,
insulated from the harsh realities.

Fearful,
some still give of themselves,
immerse into a strangers’ world of hopelessness,
discover the often elusive core of humanity,
where survival relies on trusting,
void of discrimination and bigotry,
where to be a volunteer is both revered,
and feared.

To give up,
or surrender.

To remain in delusional security,
or break away from fear’s seduction,
venture outside the tenuous safety
providing captivity, not shelter,
imprisoning who we might be,
who we might have been.
who we might become.

So go heroes,
where truth’s nakedness
knows not hiding.