Conditioning

It’s warm like hell embers

That hold orange-red glare.

Beliefs are like flames

Fanning summertime flares,

But the wind we’re all breathing

Keeps everything fair.

Everything is conditioning –

Conditioning air.

–

Whether the fleeing or fighting

Or shelter that’s sought –

Being this is a limbic,

Ceremonious plot.

And the signals we share

Are like vibrating shots.

Everything is conditioning –

Conditioning thought.

–

Trauma imprints bodies

Until they’re unglued.

Despising one’s self

Is an airless balloon,

And the music of wholeness

Is never in tune.

Everything is conditioning –

Conditioning wounds.

–

We are now and always

Most alive when we trust,

Aive when we lean in

To do what we must –

A violent monsoon

Or a delicate gust,

Everything is conditioning –

Conditioning us.