The Critique of Self

We stand on the edge of the mind,
gazing inward, not outward,
where answers tremble in silence,
waiting to be uncovered.

Philosophers taught us:
do not grasp for the stars
before charting the constellations
etched in your own thoughts.
The world seen is not the world known
phenomena paint the limits of our gaze.
Beyond, the noumena wait,
silent, untouched by perception.

What do we see
when we peel back the veil of reason?
How does cause ripple
when the stone of thought strikes water?
We are cartographers of cognition,
tracing the boundaries of what is
and what must remain unknown.

To act is to judge,
but not by the chaos of consequence
by the weight of motives,
pure or poisoned by the irrational.
In the tribunal of reason,
morality is born,
its fragile laws
woven from threads of logic and will.

We cannot transcend the walls of our mind,
but within them lies a universe.
The critique of self is to find real depth and clarity,
to unearth the hidden truths that shape our every step,
to confront and try understand the irrational shadows
that weaken our humanity.

Investigation is not surrender
it is the courage to ask,
the discipline to know,
and the grace to admit
that we cannot know all.