Cut, or ...Said the Hippie to the Hipster

You needn't cut yourself off from the material world.

You mustn't cut yourself off from the material world.

There is truth in the world of people and things,

Or, at least, the world of people and things is in the truth.

You need not entirely forsake materialism,

But you must be willing to forsake all that is monetary,

Be it possessions or connections or activities.

You must be able to put it from your mind.

That which you cannot put from your mind,

You must be willing to cut out of your life.

You must be able to cut like a surgeon,

and you must be willing to cut like a swordsman.

You must be with precision and abandon and enthusiasm;

You must be without remorse,

For only when you can turn from that which is costly

Will you be able to understand that which is valuable.