Detachment

Detachment

...at the corner of disillusion and relief.

I traveled great distances
over many, many years
so I could tell you
what you likely already know:
our duty is always nearby.

Some of us are raised
to carry the great weight defined
by hard work and responsibility,
and not to question the virtue
of our roles in the order of life.

Many of us acquiesced,
assumed our posts and stations,
did what we were tasked to do,
and never asked the reasons why.

Others of us scattered,
angered by the weight
placed upon our shoulders,
and sought a new horizon
free of obligation and duty.

Now some of us return
a little worse for the wear
and bitter at not finding
the freedom we desired,
yet also ready and willing
to assume our obligations
with a new appreciation
for the gifts we've been given,
knowing we can let go when
the weight becomes too much.

---

Detachment is what interests me,
seeing how people couldn't have been any other way,
how they were the product of forces that they had no control over.
~ Edward St Aubyn