Onward with Humility

You cannot see tomorrow with the eyes of yesterday.

You cannot hear the future’s sound with ears that hear today.

You cannot smell unopened blooms nor taste the coming fruit.

You cannot touch the dew of dawn nor guess your next pursuit.

Try not to guess your hidden fate nor fear a painful death –

The passage to the quiet zone where we relinquish breath.

Try only to imagine that the life that lies ahead

Is a fresh continuation of the journey of past dead.

Those who passed before us have opened up the way

To seek a clearer vision that we humans need today,

To trod a crooked pathway that’s harmoniously shared

By folks enjoying happiness with those who really cared.

Whatever way you spend your life and trudge the dusty soil

And seek reward for being here and weathering the toil,

You must be chosen for this role among six billion souls

To test the complex, bold design that clever Chaos molds,

To realize that why we’re here is not to groan and wail –

To whine, complain, and bitch about how hard it is to sail

Against the current of our own resistance to what’s planned

By infinite intelligence that guides the “unseen hand.”

We’ll never know from where we came, nor how we landed here,

Nor what’s in store, nor why we came, nor what there is to fear.

The only clue that we exist is found in our awareness

That we’re inside, looking out, contemplating stillness.

We must begin to understand we don’t “man” the controls;

We don’t select our parents, our country, or our goals.

We can’t perceive the universe with modern human tools,

Nor calculate the size it has with telescopic rules.

It’s only with humility that we can find success

In limiting our arrogance and unconstrained excess.

For once we see what can’t be seen, we end our lengthy quest:

To know for sure that as we hope is just the way we’re blest.

Chic Hollis is a longtime drummer and motorcyclist, who served in the US Air Force in North Africa. Married 4 times with 5 children born in 5 different countries on four continents, Chic is a politically independent citizen of the world interested in helping Americans understand the reality that is life overseas where many intelligent, educated, and industrious people aren’t as privileged as we are in the US. He studied Latin, Greek, Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German and ran several large companies. Sadly, Chic Has left this planet and we miss him very much, but we are very pleased to display his amazing writing works.