The More Life Changes...

Some smart person once said it...the more life changes, the more it remains the same. And these two poetic reflections, written about 4 years ago and published in my book, Life Lines, could have been written today.

left hanging

HANG IN THERE!
     we speak these words like
      a mantra of encouragement,
      support, to someone struggling
      with a problem, a situation
     which taxes their resources
     and brings them to the
     brink of desperation…
HANG IN THERE!
     things will get better, we
     imply. This can’t last forever-
      this pain, this problem, this
      agony threatening to tear you
     apart, body from soul,
     limb from limb…
HANG IN THERE!
     while deep within a
     voice is crying, “I just
     can’t do this anymore!”
     Can’t bear the pain…
     can’t face the agony
     which doesn’t seem to
     let up or let go…
                 BUT
is HANGING IN THERE
      always such a virtue?
      and shouldn’t letting go
      be an option for each
      one of us at some point
      in time?

I am circling around God, around the ancient tower, and I have been

circling for a thousand years, and I still don’t know if I am a falcon,

or a storm, or a great song.

-Ranier Maria Rilke

 
surreality
Some days my life feels
surreal…but I am living it
and that makes it my reality,
doesn’t it? I try really hard
to “follow the path in front
of me”…but somehow, that
only seems like reality if
there IS a path…
 
      What if you’re hanging out
        there in midair, at the end
        of your proverbial rope? Is
        that when “Let go” comes
        into play? trusting that when
        I fall, I will land on my feet-
        or at least on something fairly
        soft- so I can get up, perhaps
       bruised & battered, and
       FOLLOW THE PATH        
         once again?
 
Talk about surreal! For how
many times in life have I done
just that- hung there at the end
of my rope with even that end
unraveling- and finally given up…
                                    let go…
                          because there was
                          no other choice.
                                        And is this cowardice
                                             or courage?
                                             or simply the
                                                    surreality of life?