dueling without dualism [1]
[Draft 6-2-2026 … 6-7-2026]
Copyright © 2026 John P. Healy
Part I [2]
oh, …
depart from my doorstep,
leave off your slick righteous spiel,
no need to knock again, babe,
i’m not the type to deal.
you say you’re searching for a soul,
one to share your chosen creed *
to spread your message more & more,
notwithstanding heed or need,
someone to open heaven’s blissful door!
but that’s a stretch, babe
you’re taking more than giving, babe
i’m not the catch you’re fishing for, babe
history weighs upon you,
a context you claim is right,
salvation for only few,
an account of dark and light,
but …
it’s just not for me, babe,
a starkness that’s so outright,
mythic fall from perfection,
a forever feudal fight,
diametric divine forces
marshaling their troops of might!
but it ain’t so, now
no, no, it doesn’t need to be, see,
it doesn’t relate to me, here
the scales of right range widely, babe,
my moral model ain’t so tight,
as complexity emerges,
reveals tree rings out of sight,
and braiding binds together,
without stark dichotomy!
yes it can be so, now
yes, yes, it might happen yet, see,
it resonates with me, here
yes, your moral standoff’s real,
as your feelings clearly show,,
but not because of demons
casting ’bout chaotic woe
that emptiness you endure,
it’s not because of exile
from an estate once so pure
by knowledge that was so vile,
but …
from annals of deception,
Plato’s cave where sense of form
was cast upon the heavens
and projected on life’s wall,
as takeaway for shadows
so marring our mortal thrall!
but it ain’t so, now
no, no, it doesn’t need to be, see,
it doesn’t relate to me, here
your visceral cry of moral wrong,
on how disorder so creeps about,
entanglement upstages your codex,
so that your beacons no longer count,
well, …
that’s in the wind, babe, a new song
to open cracks of hope, take a stand,
a natural rhythm of contrast ***
of circles by which we can expand,
and to move beyond the crave of past,
perhaps, so that might’s not making right!
yes it can be so, now
yes, yes, it might happen yet, see,
it resonates with me, here
let’s not be toys of tribal totems
or claims of superiority,
not pawns of rival gods, deity.
let’s be more than termini of streams,
more than monetized sacks, data snacks,
more than fodder for attention hacks
which call us to go down rabbit holes,
to forget, to drift in freebie dreams!
so let’s link the clues, babe,
connect the dots, babe,
it’s all right with me, babe
Part II
Part II text (tap to expand or collapse view)
remember the adage of fleeting glory
when’er you hear bells boldly ring in triumph,
or read trollish tweets declaring victory,
since …
we merely peek behind the curtain, babe
so, with eyes that savvy a fuller spectrum,
let’s fare forth not as cynics,
or as oracles of the play.
let’s not fall into traps of polarity,
let’s trust there’s a process with integrity
although oft in despair
by bad faith, unjust care,
let’s shape our path ahead
not just by how we dare,
not cry nostalgic form,
not just recycle harm
let’s decide to fail better, now, babe,
let’s tell stories which don’t so simply
replay a worn path among the stars
Notes
* (ideology)
** (how you divide up reality)
*** (duality)
[1] Dualism > Dictionary
Philosophy: a theory or system of thought that regards a domain of reality in terms of two independent principles.
Religion: the doctrine that the universe contains opposed powers of good and evil, especially seen as balanced equals.
[2] An homage to Bob Dylan’s song It Ain’t Me, Babe
[3] An homage to Samuel Beckett’s famous quote in “Worstward Ho” (1983): “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
[4] Allegory of the cave
The allegory is related to Plato’s theory of Forms, according to which the “Forms” (or “Ideas”), and not the material world known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. Knowledge of the Forms constitutes real knowledge or what Socrates considers “the Good“.
Related posts
• Beyond A Good Place 10.0 – transcript
The Krell thought they had eliminated their shadow side. A non-dualistic aftermarket like 10.0 accepts that the shadow – the animal ring in the tree of the soul – never actually disappears; it is simply integrated.
• the gods need not take our sight … (peak of eternal light)
[excerpt]
in moving from low to high,
we see our pathway as true,
and that we are in the right.
yet forever left nearby,
as if they are out of view,
still the shadows of the nightwhether heaven or haven
will ever erase our blight,
our myths impel us even
further on a cosmic flight
• the beasts at the end of my desk
the beasts at the end of my desk
my gerbils
busy themselves in front of me
as if to say,
“what is this talk of symbols in decay?”“together in communal nest,
grooming bonds in play and rest —
what is this thought of meaninglessness?”there is no thought of meaningfulness