WILL WE EVER KNOW

What would we give to know
Just what it is that makes us so.
Indeed, many are the things we know,
Such as, what may bring a happy smile
Or a deep sigh and frown upon our face,
What constitutes our pragmatic world,
How best to cope for our daily bread,
Where we have been and
Where we would like to go;
Yes, there is so much that we already know,
Some think they may know it all
Yet, about ourselves what is it
That we really know.

As we attempt to penetrate our emotional depths
To discern our innermost core
We find ourselves lost, trapped, entwined
Unable to phantom where to start or where to turn
As if on a strange planet in a different universe
Devoid of logic, omnidirectional,
For there are no ups nor downs
No roadmaps to show us the way
Only the briefest flashes of chemo electron energy
Communicating in fanthomless numbers
With our billion neuron driven net
Ever changing, reflecting, assessing, analyzing
Our multitudenous incoming stimuli and now,
Do you still think we know all about ourselves.

If so can you put your finger or your thought
On that which defines our many emotions
As we have been taught.
Such as love, fear, joy, and sorrow
Just to name a few not even calling on
Jealousy, desire, hate among dozens more;
Where do we find these, how do we adjust
Turn them on or off, fine tune them
To our individual needs, how then do we relate
Each emotion that drives us every day
If we do not know where each is in our neuron web
For we are indeed pretty ingnorant about it all
Then how will we ever be able to say or justify
Why we did this or why we did that
It cannot possibly be because we know.

Herbert Holzbauer
ŠJune 1999

Midi Title: Truly, Madly, Deeply