Raymond Klassen – Ideals and Identities

I received an inheritance, and a benefit was lost.
More money than before, but unsure of what cost.
“Let’s invest the numbers”, hoping for increase;
A relationship changed, to the bank I’m now leashed.

I worked in business, and connected through LinkedIn.
“Let’s increase our network”, our ring-a-ding din.
Entering exchanges, transactions, and impersonal ‘scratch my backs’.
Leaving open spaces behind, falling by gravity on mindless tracks.

What profit is this if I have lost my soul?
What a marvelous, frivolous shiny lump of coal.
The world has promised riches, marvels and piles of gold,
But no connection between gold and its value still holds.

Instead we live on promises detached from credit,
Just in the way the Bible has said it.
And we want to say we’ve made the top of a hill,
a smaller hill, when the Mountain calls us still.

Sold our souls to profit, and benefit? We’ve lost it.
For a walk in the market, insanity crossed it,
The barrier between our life and our sorrow,
Bright shiny things hold our sorrow tomorrow.

“What about this? And what about that?”
Don’t talk of nourishment; let’s eat till we’re fat.
We look to a promise and give up the now,
We exchange our Being for furrowed brow.

For a life of tomorrow, bears no tie to today,
For eternity present, to be presented this way,
Instead, let’s remember, the Law was fulfilled.
Our grief is absorbed by a joy undistilled.

We may think of, and dread, a cold winter’s day,
But know of the sunshine that invites us to play.
Some will say, “let’s go to the coast!”
Rain, expensive houses, and avocado toast.

The profit’s been gained; the ocean is viewed.
But benefit lost, our soul comes unglued.