Ode to Nothings

When we have nothing, we worry that we have achieved nothing,
But when the world kneels before us, it seems like as to nothing,
And we worry then about protecting those sweet somethings, 
The somethings that we brought forth from those nothings,
Those nothings we had before this new world began

And so, thus, we tread around the true circles of life
As we move from nothingness to binding somethingness
When we had nothing the nothingness was a weight so great
And as the burden grew, perhaps we didn't know the somethings
Would have weight too, for as the nothings fell away, we felt lightness

We didn't know, didn't consider, that losing the weight of nothingness
Is never possible in this ever heavy world of same-as somethingness 
Nothing is lighter than the weight of nothing, yet nothing is heavier
Being nothing, having nothing, fearing nothing, that is great weight
But the fear of nothing bears heavier when we have something

We have nothing, and we fear the void beneath the nothing,
But there is nothing beneath nothing, nothing less than nothing,
Nothing can only exist below something, so we learn without knowing
As we struggle to protect our somethings from nothing, where we came from,
That we do not fear nothing, unless we have something which came from nothing

We have those somethings and we fear the nothing from whence they came here
Yet we started with nothing and still we feared the nothing, tried to escape it,
But the more something we had, and became something, we fear it more, 
Why should that be, for with nothing, there is nothing to lose or protect
But we fear that nothingness the most, and it haunts our somethings

So why strive for something? Only  because we fear the nothingness
Of having no something, no somewhere, no sometime, eternal nothing
But the further we run from that nothingness void the closer it seems behind
And so we run forever from the nothing, but carrying a heavier burden all the while
What is sweeter, somethings which take us from nothing, or the nothings which chased us there?

Reviews

[ice]

A little complicated, but that's what makes it interesting.
When I read this I thought of the Novel and film, "The never ending story"
Throughout the story there is persistant attention on the "nothing".
The nothing is evil, and causes all kinds of problems..
Reminds me of many peoples lives in our modern sosciety..
Where people do nothing, say nothing, are nothing , or seemingly so.

"So why strive for something? Only because we fear the nothingness
Of having no something, no somewhere, no sometime, eternal nothing"

As always, you have written and intelligent,passionet ode..
I am enjoying all of them
Namaste
ice

[.]

`u have posed in such an interesting philosophical way the inquisition of
'something & nothing' wanted/worried about and even proffered the question of the need and must to strive our living needs & wants-and the most dominating intelligent position here is that every one of these theories is correct depending on the numerous points of few. but in the end the eternal question and answer is ""So why strive for something?"" & ""Only because we fear the nothingness Of having no something, no somewhere, no sometime, eternal nothing.""

~GREAT POEM!!!~

[.]

. you are an absolutely brilliant poet ... and the sheer skill with which you have maintained precision in the use of the words 'something' and 'nothing' is amazing ... however, i have a bit of a different perspective to offer ... and i hope it is of some value ... and this is based purely on my experiential learning ...

. sensitive people get hurt by whatever instances of insensitivity that they get exposed to ... intentionally or unintentionally ... and usually it's unintentionally ... for instance, by things they see while going to work, or watching television or watching a film or a play or simply at an airport ... it could be anywhere ... and at any time ... and without warning ...

. when that happens ... such as if i see a rickshaw puller on the road in blistering cold ... and he is visibly below the poverty line ... then i am affected ... and then i need to respond ... suppose i am overwhelmed and say nothing and do nothing ... then an empty space is created ... and it starts getting filled with pain ... for there is always something one can do ... and one can always try to the best of one's ability ... if one does not, then one can't sleep peacefully at night ...

. trouble begins ... when i say nothing ... and try to fill the empty space with distractions ... all of which are by nature superficial ... then i start turning into a superficial person ... and then my peace is gone ... then i need sedatives to sleep ...

. the fact of the matter ... based on my observations and experiences is ... that there is so much to do ... so that we can sleep peacefully knowing that we tried our best ... without feeling empty or superficial ... (and hence cynical too) ... that there is hardly any time for distractions ... of course a balance is needed ... for all work and no play makes jack a dull boy ...

. we need to live a life that is sensitive to ourselves and to those we come into contact with ... the emptiness caused by the absence of sensitivity can only be filled with the presence of sensitivity ...

. instead we keep chasing this, that and the other ... and forget to fill the empty space or perhaps not give it enough priority ... end up becoming superficial ... and in excruciating pain simultaneously ...

. therefore, my take would be that we should fill those empty spaces with our responses to the lack of sensitivity we see ... with the objective of facilitating greater sensitivity for ourselves ... as well as for others ... the universe is in such a bad state that it needs everyone to be sensitive ... and it needs everyone to validate sensitivity ... there's loads to be done ... to make a positive difference ... and when we try our best ... then we're able to sleep peacefully ... and look forward to the next day ... knowing that we are significant for what we validate ... each and every day ... and if we do our bit ... then there's no reason for any emptiness ...