Only Mostly Dead Poets Society

[JMack]

I am rather fond of that one. Glad it was warmly received.

Read aloud twice now. Have to swallow back wet eyes and lumpy throat.

[The Gem Cutter]

Tolkien said not all tears are evil, but I will admit that I found my own throat somewhat restricted working on it. I am notoriously sentimental, and I find the best things within and around me are purely sentimental. What can we say? For the most part, we are all, in fact, very good friends, and the bonds of our Fellowship are important and impact us strongly in their particular way.

The fuzzy borders of our understanding of each other are a convenient filter. Unencumbered by the friction of in-person relationships, romance, or the affairs of working together, we enjoy a certain intimacy of shared ideas and notions. For my part, on the one hand I know my image of everyone is incomplete, but the essence of what is important is as good or better than many people I've known in the flesh for far longer. Sometimes, as the saying goes, less is more.

[J.R. Darewood]

Maybe I can't

I can't.
I can't do it.
You smile genuinely,
  (only I know it's secretly patronizing)
that encouraging pat on the back,
  (a convincingly life-like robot, programmed to encourage)
and tell me:
  "You can do it."
I nod, pretending to believe you
when we both know I'll fail,
no, I *am* failing
because struggling to try can only end in one way.
Don't *tell* me "I can"
Realize that...
  maybe I can't like this,
and ask me:
  "So how *can* you?"
and maybe
  (just maybe)

I'll find a way.

[The Gem Cutter]

Teacher

Your face to me like a vision, unfaded and still clear,
I’ve tried to pay attention, lest your lessons disappear,

I recall your sun-streaked glance,
Still see your quiet smile,
Hear the echoes of your patient sigh,
Waiting all the while,

For me to wrap my head around,
Things that others always know,
And to finally crest the ridgeline,
That blocks my view and growth,

I’m still becoming who I should be,
Still learning how to live,
Still learning what to leave behind,
Still learning how to give,

For though I’ve solved some riddles,
I remain in my own way,
And if I ever cross your mind,
Know that your words have stayed,
With me, within me, behind and above,
Whether spoke in anger or sadness or in love,

For though the student fumbles,
Falling short of teacher’s aim,
Some are born to stumble,
And the teacher’s not to blame.

[The Gem Cutter]

Landing

I had a revelation, but it died upon my lips,
For how could you appreciate the sinking of my ships,
Which never circled ‘round your drain,
With snapping sails and anchor chains, 
Dragging down your hopes,
Drowning the sailor you thought yourself,
In nets of knotted ropes.

You were not me. You were not there.
The hungry gap between us gnaws and swallows what I say,
And lays the distance bare.

You have to take my word for it,
That those events transpired,
And that they held a meaning,
Beyond the mud and mire.

But the little gift you give to me,
Suspending disbelief,
Leads to lies and fake facades,
And brings us all to grief.

So I’ll just sigh and nod and hope that in between each line,
The captains who’ve abandoned ships and tasted desperate times,
Will know that I’m their brother, that I’ve drunk the bitter brine,

But saw today a hopeful ray of light and hope profound,
And waded through the surf to say,
I’ve landed on good ground.

[J.R. Darewood]

I really like that last one, Gem!


Totally unrelated, there's this new thing called "broetry" which is going viral on Linked In.  Its basically catnip for people who aren't smart enough to read paragraphs but want to read crap/cultish business advice in a series of one sentence bytes. I'm simultaneously intrigued and horrified.

https://www.reuters.com/video/2018/02/06/broetry-a-new-form-of-storytelling-light?videoId=391064900

[The Gem Cutter]

The Peaceful Path
I taught him to dance and I taught him to sting,
With a blade in his hand like a bird on the wing,

I taught him to move and I taught him to see,
Past the blades of his enemies to the space in between,
Where the Peaceful Path leads through the slashes and cuts,
Past the trips and the slips and the short and long thrusts,

I taught him to drain all his thoughts from his face,
That the fight’s not a game and the fight’s not a race,
I taught him to watch through his foe’s flashing eyes,
And seize the slim moment where the Peaceful Path lies,

I taught him patience and I taught him to wait,
For the gap in the guard when the counter’s too late.

I taught him to cut the strings that bind life,
To the meat of a man and how swiftly a knife,
Lets loose the life’s blood and makes corpses of men,
With the flash of sharp steel and a twist of the hand.

I taught him the thinness of the skin and the veins,
I taught him the limits of his reach and his aim.
I taught him how even strong men are undone,
I taught him not to fight and if he’s able - to run.

[The Gem Cutter]

My Fledglings
One night I spied two fledgling birds,
All downy fluffy brown,
Shelter in my porch's eaves,
Just as the sun went down,

High and safe from cats and owls,
Safe from the rain and storm,
They huddled in the corner there,
And waited on the morn,

I smiled at these strangers,
I counted them each night,
Until their finer feathers came,
And they took to longer flights,

Looking at the corner now,
I wonder how things went,
I wonder where and how they fared,
And if they are content,

I hope they found what wild things seek,
I hope they find what's best,
I hope the winds will bring them round,
And give my porch a nest,

I hope one early evening,
Just as the sun goes down,
I spy another fledgling thing,
Of fluffy downy brown

[The Gem Cutter]

My wish came through - another brown fledgling is sheltering in my eaves 

[J.R. Darewood]

Nothing so sweet
as the morning melodies of birds
a musical commemoration of sparkling sunrises, the green of trees
and things that are not dead

[JMack]

Not my poem. A friend posted it on FB, and I think it’s lovely.
It also gets my author-brain going.

"To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight...
and know that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings."
~Wendell Berry

[The Gem Cutter]

Behind You Your Family Remains

There’s darkness in your sky.
Your broken wings can’t fly.
The light you followed for so long won’t shine.

And now you stand alone.
And only you can know,
How far you’ve flown and now you can’t fly home.

And I know your faithful heart’s about to break,
And there’s only so much more that you can take.
But when the light goes out,
And your hopes all fade,
Behind you your family remains.

Rivals in the fight, Siblings in the light,
We tried we learned we grew and it’s alright.
We did what we could do.
We pushed we learned we grew.
We fought we won we lost we pushed on through.

So when you’ve passed the point and know there’s no return,
When the light that lit the way no longer burns,
When the light goes out,
And your hopes all fade,
Behind you your family remains.

The love we hold for you,
Brings no light to what you must do,
But when the light goes out,
And your hopes all fade,
Behind you your family remains.

[The Gem Cutter]

Courage
Deep inside it slumbers when no wolf’s at the door,
And fear is just a small thing, far off and no more.
It only wakes from slumber when the danger's great and near,
And strength is what is needed to face down all our fear,

Remember the brave ones who came long before,
Who did what they had to with less and for more.
Remember the ones who now stand in that space,
Between the weak and the helpless and the harm that they face.

Remember the fearful are looking to you,
And courage is a choice that the will must see through.
Fear leaps heart to heart if we let it, so don’t.
Be brave, be the one who could break, but won’t.