"All the world is a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;" is the phrase that starts the monologue from William Shakespeare's As You Like It, spoken by the melancholy Jacques in Act 2 Scene Vll.

I have long wondered what it meant as a child and when I became aware of the adults around me I began to see the reality of what is called 'The Game' that everyone is playing so as to blend into the play of what seems to be life.

I have been haunted and delighted in equal measure, however, I discovered that I don't really care for it much anymore. As l am remembering who I am and as I am experiencing my spiritual awakening, it's become so vivid to me that authenticity is what excites and slakes my internal thirst.

To play the roles that are thrust on me has been a dire state of faking myself out with make believe notions that society has constructed to turn all of us into paper dolls. How did we get here? I ask myself. The dramas that we create that constantly blights us like frost to a grapevine is not serving us like we care to admit.

I guess that I have reached one of the seven stages of a man's life according to Shakespeare. This is an awakening for me. It's seems to have pushed up from the ground like a seed that cracks open all the way. I am sick and tired of playing the game of deception.

When I came across a quote attributed to the ancient Sufi poet Rumi, it was like a river surged through me and confirmed to me what my soul has been reminding me for such a long time. I heard then but now I listen.

The quote goes, "Half of life is lost charming others. The other half is lost going through anxieties caused by others. Leave this play, you have played enough." I don't know about you but for me this is the Universe saying "Wake up!"

And true to form, my poetry notebook fell open to a fresh page and with pen in hand, I didn't have to wait long until the pen released the words I heard mySelf speak onto the waiting page in fresh ink. It came steadily with a conscious ease that as I read what remained as a poem, I was visibly moved.

It's a declaration of personal independence from the empire of cookie cutter thinking and the pull to play the game whose rules I refuse to abide by. I am tired of the scripts written by others. I am done with the incessant rain of conformity. It's a neverending race to nowhere. I choose to be my unique Self.

Life is all about Self-creation.

I aim to keep my post shorter than I am accustomed to writing and with this in mind I will share the poem that inspired this post tomorrow.

© zari alexxanderr-caine 2018
#blackpoetboy