Voice of the Ego

Let me dream and scheme of my desires —
Or let me fume and champ on those gone by,
Lost, not to be fulfilled.

                           No?

Right, then, let that go.  Let me brood instead
on former days and friends of long ago.
That out too?  Mere fantasy?  Right, then, 

I'll grieve About my children, worry how they are,
why they’ve not written, what has come to them.
What? Worry can’t mend? Is that out too?

Then let me wallow in imaginings
of high ideals for the good of man
and spread of truth; let me have noble thoughts
of how to serve and teach and help — no matter what

So long as I hold the stage.

Let me be hero, villain or buffoon,
Or each in turn, but let it be mid-stage.

                 The Heart's reply,

One thing only is required of you:
Just to be still; nothing to say or do.

–
  Arthur Osborne (1906-1967)
  The Mountain Path, Oct 1967, p.294