The TAO of Direction



West embraces East,
as a child to a teacher;
each to the other.

The path to TAO
is the path of completion;
which leads to wholeness.

East embraces West,
as a child seeking wisdom;
the wisdom of TAO.

Suffer then children
to lead and complete the path;
the path of TAO.

Searching for TAO,
a small child will lead The Way.
The child as father.

East embraces West,
as a child seeking wisdom;
the wisdom of TAO.

West embraces East,
as a child to a teacher;
each to the other.

The path to TAO
is the path to completion;
the path of children.

About this poem

The TAO of Direction or ‘The Way,’ embracing and encompassing opposites, is that of Oneness and Unity. English poet Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), focusing on oppositions and dualities as absolutes in nature, declared famously in a poem: “East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” This haiku poem invites introspection, takes a different perspective, and examines reality from a Taoist perspective ( a child’s “un-carved block” or “Pu” perspective) that discerns and unearths the underlying unity of all phenomena; the child becoming teacher and father of the man. With Tao, East and West are intertwined, like an alchemical ouroboros embracing the extent and expanse of itself by biting its own tail, depicting thus the eternal cyclical nature of time and direction. Just as a child is a student to a teacher, so is the Occidental West a student to the wisdom of the Oriental East. 

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Written on July 27, 2022

Submitted by karlcfolkes on July 27, 2022

Modified by karlcfolkes on April 26, 2023

39 sec read
206

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABB Cdx EFC dxc cxb EFC ABB Cdd
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 544
Words 132
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3

Karl Constantine FOLKES

Retired educator of Jamaican ancestry with a lifelong interest in composing poetry dealing particularly with the metaphysics of self-reflection; completed a dissertation in Children’s Literature in 1991 at New York University entitled: An Analysis of Wilhelm Grimm’s “Dear Mili” Employing Von Franzian Methodological Processes of Analytical Psychology. The subject of the dissertation concerned the process of Individuation. more…

All Karl Constantine FOLKES poems | Karl Constantine FOLKES Books

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    "The TAO of Direction" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/132669/the-tao-of-direction>.

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