What If....?

Asked not those questions Would you like to be a fool for ever? Or would you like to be a fool For a minute, my dear Questions we do ask people But barely do we ask ourselves It's a skill quite unknown To stay for a while with questions Rightly said David Whyte About questions that have no right To fly away to land of fairies And in order to live fuller lives Questions we must ask ourselves To be more courageous To be more generous To be more fulfilled To be more dedicated Questions are often gifted To us by our beloved poets 'Tell me, what is it you plan To do with your one wild and precious life? ' Mary Oliver's poem so sweet And elsewhere she knocks you out With 'Listen- are you breathing Just a little, and calling that a life? ' Or a line from Pablo Neruda stops us short 'Was it where they lost me that I was able to find myself? ' And Shel Silverstein's playful piece Of Zebra questions that animate While light-hearted at one level Deep and thought provoking at another It goes: I asked the Zebra Are you black with white stripes? Or white with black stripes? And the Zebra said to me Are you good with bad habits? Or are you bad with good habits? Are you noisy with quiet times? Or are you quiet with noisy times? Are you happy with some sad days? Or are you sad with some happy days? Just by dwelling on these promptings Can we open the door to the yearnings That we carry within ourselves