"The Perfect High" by Shel Silverstein

wow that surprised me. I used to have a book of Shel Silverstein's poem's when I was young, and I loved them. But I had no idea he wrote for adults too. That said, it was a very entertaining poem from which I would take some things and leave the others.

 

yeap, he did write for playboy

 

i think the point is that roy was always dissatisfied by every external attempt to get high. since all these things are external from us, they cannot be perfect for they are not in congruence with us, they are faltered by their physical detatchement of our perception of self. so he does tonnes of hardship in order to find the high that will rid him of the need for hardship.
the guru on the other hand tells him that the ultimate high comes from within, for only then can it be perfect, only when the high consists through reality itself (what is within each mind is each person's reality essentially), instead of a component in reality which one is utilising.

the simple fact of the ending is that the simple truth of the perfect high comes from not doing anything at all, but roy worked so hard and went through so much physical hardship that he needed to make it all up. so, the guru fabricated an ultimate external hardship leading to the ultimate high, not only external from roy, but external from reality at all, yet roy believed it because it was what he wanted to hear.

its a general message not to continue seeking a better drugs if a drug has a problem, because problems are inherant in life, and to

find the ultimate cause of high

requires

the ultimate cause of hardship

unless

from within, for there are no bounds of us within ourselves, except belief - which is shaped by self justification

yeh im sure anyone could go on and on

and on

its a good piece actually, ive started writing sorta like this a bit, rhyming prose

 

I think it means that people expect the hard way to be better just because it is hard. The answer to finding the perfect high is as easy as just knowing yourself.