Rough Rope Poem by Richmon Rey Jundis

(Poem Against Absolutism)

Rough and thick old rope of rigid morality
Grips around my soul's neck,
Controlling my body and soul,
Like a leashed dog filled with fear and madness.

I can't breathe.
Everything is too heavy to bear.
The dictatorship of goodness
That suppose to liberate me from the chain of my natural tendencies
Slowly kills the imperfect version of humanity in me.

The primary goal of this set of principles
Is to tie up the shattered bonds
Caused by imperfections and weaknesses,
Tied up in our human nature,
But it became the destroyer,
Instead of becoming a soul builder.

The rough rope of rigid rules
Being scourged around my neck
As I walk toward the path of morality
Is slowly turning off spark of the Divine in me,
The rope around my neck has failed to enrich me,
And start choking and killing me.
I can't breathe.
Everything now is too heavy to bear.

Can I run like a rabid dog,
leashed with this rough rope around my neck,
Or will I continue to bow down
In the shrine of lies and hypocrisies?