Gravity of Our Situation

By Niall Twohig

Sitting peacefully under the pines I feel the pull –

almost gravitational – of this system.

It pulls us to all those things we could be doing

to catch up, to stay on top, to get ahead, to make ends meet.

It pulls us to all those things

we could be collecting or consuming or showcasing

to feel full, to get high, to show our worth.

I feel this gravity pulling me and all my students.

The force is so strong it becomes hard to sit.

We fidget and sigh in skin and minds shaped by

the gravity of our situation.

But one small moment,

a collective stillness,

reminds me:

The system’s gravity is not as strong as our intention,

not as strong as the intimacy that emerges

from our intention.

For a second I can feel it,

you feel it too, I think:

We touch the Now,

the Ultimate Dimension,

where no gravity can reach.