13 April 2020 – The One – #10: City Secundus – Segment 7

This is the last segment of “City Secundus,” Song 10 of The One. Our main character certainly has his eyes opened with the back-to-back experiences in and around this second city.

More than any segment so far, this one exposes the MC to deep philosophical concerns. Can these be received, if not understood, or can they be grasped? Does the MC even seem old enough to entertain such concepts? Judge for yourself and form your own opinions.

Ratcliff reappears, but now in a much-altered form. It is she who delivers the philosophical tenets. None of the parties move much in this segment; it is a time of quiet dialogue and revelations. This segment carries the weight of what may be truth, yet that remains a discovery for each person. See what you think.

Then I noticed a sick and crippled man 

            to the west, the place of promised sunset

            where someone – everyone – would one day lie

The western man had crutches at his side

            deep oozing sores on his face, legs and arms

            his labored breath short, rasping, and faltering

As I considered life, birth, death – all three

            Shocked, I saw then one more indignity

                        brutal sicknesses in a legion of forms

as these frightening thoughts coursed through my mind

            a shadow crossed the courtyard from behind

Startled, I quickly hid within the crowd

            watched the mysterious, black shade approach

            the sick man and then the shade threw its cloak 

over the right shoulder, bow, put both hands

                        together in humble salutation

            and from a white basket the figure took           

                        food and drink, and laid them beside the man

            who reached and accepted the shadow’s gift

Then the dark one squatted beside the man

“Eat what’s here. Feed your body, if you can”

I know that voice, I realized just then

With that, I rose and walked across the square

Approaching, I spoke low, “Ratcliff, hello.”

She rose, turned on her heel, inhaled a breath

“Oh!” she said and clapped her hand on her mouth

“What are you doing here so late this night?”

“Just thinking about birth, death, and sickness.

            I could ask the same thing of you, Ratcliff,

                        but I see you have an errand just now.”

The sick one said, “She alone is kindly.”

“It’s mostly true,” said Ratcliff quietly

            “He’s my cousin, we were born together

            When we were children, we played most our days

                        far north of here with kin and family.”

“I’m from the north country, too,” I jabbered

            excited by this, but still despising

                        that north place I came from, now far distant

“Really,” Ratcliff smiled. “It just might be then

            we three are cousins – so ‘tis in small towns”

The seated sick man smiled up weakly then

All thought on this silently for a time

Ratcliff and I sat down with the cousin

            each of us shaded in the falling light 

Ratcliff was the first to speak up again

“So, it’s life, death, and sickness you’re judging

Such great matters for one just passing youth

These three facts of all our lives hold most true

            but why come such concepts to one as you?

From what I see you’re a journey in spring

            fit, if scruffy, ready for times ahead”

Argose had been snoozing while we sat there

Then he softly g-ruffed and returned to dreams

“Before today, I did not comprehend 

            the meaning of old age, sickness, and death

            much less the life to live in between them

            Then in a space of hours, I encounter

each of these. How can this be? I see now

as if I’m looking down from a tower”

            Ratcliff exhales a long, sad sigh and rests

                        her head on her knees, swaying it side to side 

“Living means perpetually aging

            and nearby, assured sickness of the flesh

            then whether good or evil, certain death”

The other ones agreed with their silence

Some time passed as Ratcliff again pressed palms

            and placed her fingertips to her forehead

“Yes, not only you. All else is subject

            to the three conditions of our living

            Goats, pigs, and horses, all men and women

                        naturally, each one comes forth in birth

Aging, too, forever at our shoulders

as you said – all and everyone is so

            And what may be said of death, close to life?

            All that is born bears the three conditions

arrivals always end in departures

unsatisfactoriness pervades life

birth, old age, sickness, death are certainties

Walk with care. Things fall apart,” said Ratcliff

            “Everything departs.”

“Yes,” said the cousin. “Once I had your youth 

and beauty – but no more. This is the way

            of each and all that live

These things are faded though I am the same”

“What can you mean?” I asked. “Your form’s ravaged.”

“No matter how destroyed, I cling to life.”

I wonder how such a life’s still desired.

“I see your thoughts. You can’t think it is so

            but imagine that suddenly you’re blind,

                        or lost two limbs or have wasting disease

Would you choose death in exchange for your life?

I stayed silent. I had no answer then

For a space, we three were silent listening 

to one another’s precious living breath

Then Ratcliff stood and she spoke words that stayed

“Some say life is meaningless repetition

            that one reacts as one is conditioned

Sadly, this is true for most everyone

            yet being so is not the only choice

Refuge from such a life does exists here.”

I cut in. “With the three life conditions

can it truly be so?” I wonder now.

“It is called the noble search,” said Ratcliff

“Just now, you’re shocked, anxious, in a hurry

            for answers and more so for quick relief

Few gain perfect insight in an instant

The path lies in a search for consolation

            relief from the conditions considered

But consolation is a lie – in time

            the truth of suffering becomes quite clear

Make of yourself an island, unattached,

            at peace and free from reactivity.”

Ratcliff stopped, another exhale, and waited

“This is impossible,” I objected

“Where is the finish of this noble search?

How do I place a first foot on this path?”

The sick man stood on his crutches, and said,

“Even though infirm and poor, this cousin brings

            each night to me food for my survival

I can’t walk, yet, I’ve set my feet upon 

this path – just so, each of us finds our road

Each of us must seek and find our own way

            on this road to refuge.”

“I feel alone with this path. Is there help?

someone to show this noble search to me”

Ratcliff and her cousin looked and locked eyes

“There is someone who assists true, pure hearts

            but he’s not close and the way is troubled

He may teach you the sorrows of this life

            its pains and joys, weariness and power

He is one who unbinds these mysteries”

All this and more these two strangers unwound

            that night, kindly and with care and goodness

Yet, after all that apparent wisdom

            here I am heading southerly again

I do not believe them. I’m not willing

            to take the chance of following strangers’ tales

So, now I leave the nine-gated city

Just before departure, I provision

            for myself and the honorable canine,

                        Argose, who has jumped into the red boat

                                    when he sees me about to weigh anchor

                                    away from this second, nine-gated city 

                                    away from the talk of noble searches

                                    away from paths that will surely fail

                        I’d rather find and ride a Dragon’s tail     

Background

All of us face the three great sufferings – old age, sickness, and death – if we live long enough. Even in birth, suffering dogs most creatures. We struggle for breath, we are forced out of a womb of comfort where our needs are met into a world where breath is usually easy, but much of living is not.

Ratcliff appears to have turned wise sage – another teacher for the MC. She is almost transformed from the last time we encountered her wherein she was empathetic, kind, and lively, but she did not exhibit this depth of wisdom. Wisdom comes to one in many forms, and often unexpectedly.

As you will have guessed, much of the MC’s search and journey mirror my own. I didn’t have a red boat, but I walked some miles on several paths, and had more than a few teachers. Later in life, I my way unfolded, built on the back of decades of curiosity and inquiry. Not to say everything became easy after that. Hardly! But at least I garnered some understanding of the way things actually are.

This segment definitely portrays a “teaching moment.” Perhaps you found it a bit heavy-handed. Perhaps I should rely more on a narrative than on philosophical dialogue. No matter.

Exploration 1: Three sentences into this segment, the verb tense changes. What reason(s) could be operative reasons for doing this?

Exploration 2: When the dark figure enters the scene at the beginning of this segment, who or what did you suspect it was?

Exploration 3: Do you find the MC’s experiences contrived in this sentence, or alternatively, do you feel them as genuine?

Exploration 4: What is your reaction to the philosophical discussions in this segment, especially as spoken by Ratcliff?