THE ANTEROOM

Welcome to the anteroom...
where you already are.

Beyond that door
is the realm we all speak of.

Some of us speak as tho
we are beyond that door

But if we speak,
this is where speaking is done.

Beyond the door
there is no speaking.

Beyond the door
there is no-one to speak.

Beyond the door
there is no-one to speak to.

Here in the anteroom
we may speak to each other.

If any of us speaks
with pretense of being beyond the door,
everyone but the speaker understands
that fantasy is being woven with words.

Everyone knows that those who speak,
in the anteroom,
are in the anteroom.

Yes, some of us in the anteroom
have been beyond the door.
Some of us spend considerable time beyond the door.

Some of us come into the anteroom
to speak of what we see and know,
what we have, what we have lost,
when we have gone thru the door.

But anyone who speaks here,
is in the anteroom.

Anyone who speaks here,
is not beyond the door.

Anyone who speaks here,
stating that they speak from behind the door,
is mistaken,
and the mistake will be pointed out.

This is the anteroom,
and we may speak here,
of anything.

We speak of and point to the door.
We discuss what lies beyond the door.
Now perhaps we can understand,
that if speaking is being done,
that the speaker is in the anteroom.

To be in the anteroom
does not imply in any way,
an inability to go thru the door.

To speak in the anteroom
does not in any way,
qualify or accurately describe or explain
what is beyond the door.

Those of us who speak here,
who know we are in the anteroom,
know that our words
do not emanate from beyond the door.

Some speakers have the habit
of speaking here in the anteroom,
as though they are beyond the door.

Those of us in the anteroom
who have been thru the door,
know that there is no speaking beyond the door.
We may speak here in the anteroom,
of anything,
but to speak as tho we are beyond while we are here,
reveals a serious schism in the speaker.

Those of us who talk back
to those who speak
as tho they are beyond the door,
are typically answered in words
that the speaker imagines are from beyond the door.

Wake up,
you are in the anteroom;
here you may speak.

You may describe immense infinite vistas,
you may bawl endless tears of gratitude,
you may rant on and on about what concerns you.
Wake up, speaker.
If you speak,
this is where you are;
here you may speak.

Realize that you need not formulate
your speech into cosmic diatribe,
to prove you are not here.

If you speak, this is where you are.

~ Gene Poole ~