The Bright World

Today I think of Dante's description of "The Bright World" and my thoughts begin to dwell on those of Beauty, of light and of the earth and I sink into my true self - my artist self - then I think of of the dark world where many so blindly live... the destructive places, the holes and the dirty trenches - where like cockroaches - some humans dwell.

Do they not recognize the bright world - why do they persist to live in the destructive hell holes?  Thieves, addicts, abusers, cheats, traitors...

Our youngest arrivals - bright and full of promise - reflect the bright world in their sparkling eyes.  Yet for so many the sparkles will fade.  When does their world turn?  Why do some slip in the cracks -  fall into the hell hole?  Why do some follow - others even jump?  And my heart fills with such deep sadness knowing that the only way out is thru pain and suffering - like Dante's Journey.  Some will make it back to the bright world.  Some won't.  Some will forget that it is even there.  We all slip.  We all need a Virgil.

Is Virgil like the silver thread of faith and experience?  The hand that has passed thru the flames before us... the guide.  It is said that when we are ready, that a guide will come to us.  Will we know it?  Will we follow?  Will we once again see "the bright world"?