Change

Measures have their counter-measures
as arguments do their counter-points
why do we strive so for balance
how much do we give of ourselves
in this endless battle to deny change

Is it instinctual this form of resistance
a feature of having too fearful a nature
a lack of courage in times of flux
building our constructs, one upon another
in an ultimately vain attempt to prevent

Even so change comes in it’s own time
sweeping aside these puny defences
from our carefully regimented lives
leaving us at the mercy of uncertainty
an age old foe fashioned long ago

In memories born during our childhood
a time when we learnt of such perils
how a slipping of a hand-hold barely noticed
results in frantic searching amongst the crowd
finding only strangers faces all around

Shouting with increasingly panicked voice
only to discover that the reason
we have not been heard is that our voice
so loud inside our own head is there only
as we stand frozen, silently screaming

So it is that we learn of changes deft swiftness
the silent approach catching us unaware
plunging us from here to god knows where
with such abandon are we thus abandoned
to the vagaries of a now unfamiliar land

A place where we must learn new ways to be
avoiding the pitfall, a temptation to fall prey
to that urge to re-create in some small way
the familiar feel of our now redundant past
for what was, now no longer is. It has changed.

5 comments:

  1. Very thoughtful piece Jos! It pulls me in many ways...none of them comfortable, or comforting. But that's what it's all about right? All about the stretch and discovery.

    Your adoring friend,
    annie

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  2. Change, the inevitable frenemy! It took me many years to realize that change was my friend and not my enemy (except in the aging department...tee-hee). I love the flow of your poem and the way you almost play with the words. It's beautiful and thought-provoking. Blessings!!

    "Things do not change; we change." ~Henry David Thoreau

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  3. Jos, I'm not sure, but I think it is a societal construct, this fear we live in regards to change. I think about this a lot, wonder about it. In the woods last week - I mean really IN the woods, barely a road, the trees encroaching on the dirt patch we travelled, I wondered how a pioneer mother might have feared (or not have feared) for her children. There would be love, to be sure, but she would know one child would live and one would die. It would be the way. And there would be more babies. And then I thought of myself and how I hold fast to safety for my kids, less so now, but still. Be careful crossing the road, walk far away from cars, don't run with candy in your mouth. We take the swing sets out of playgrounds so no one accidentally strangles on chains. We cut the trees down in playgrounds so no one falls from them. We belt them into children's seats in cars. And yet we know - we know - but we refuse to know. And we are devastated when something happens. And of course we will be devastated. But this is not just in regards to children. It is everywhere. In spite of knowing it, we do our best to make the unsafe world safe, and then we are devastated to learn it is not safe. Sometimes we forget to live.

    (I wonder on the consumer motivation for this societally as well. They sure can sell to us when we're fearing for our lives. It has a blanket effect on our whole outlook. We are easy fools.)

    I like this poem very much. It is the opening for a huge discussion.

    xo
    erin

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  4. Oh Erin ... that's it exactly ... we know and yet we refuse to know. It's the absurdity of it all ... this clinging to what only be an allusion of safety. There is no safety. No certainty. And you're right that we can all too easily forget to live.

    Annie me too ... feeling pulled this way and that at the mo. Uncertainty may be the norm but it sure isn't comfortable!

    Marion I think it's both ... yes we change but so do things around us. The interplay creates the uncertainty. Some days I can not even be certain of myself! And I know what you mean about aging. On the other hand I'd rather continue aging given that ceasing to do so only means one thing (or not as the case might very well turn out to be). And I am going to learn something of Tarot, you have peaked my interest!

    xx Jos

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  5. Jos, the Tarot is a great meditation tool and fun to learn. It has expanded my horizons and led me down paths I never knew existed in the forest of life. Here's an amazing, simple web site (she also has a book out, but it's the same material that is free online):

    www.learntarot.com

    The author is Joan Bunning. I highly recommend a Rider-Waite or Universal Rider-Waite deck to begin. After you get the basics down, there are zillions of artsy decks out there. (I own about 15 or 20 decks, several collectible.) Amazon sells many deck/book combinations and a great site to see photos of the Tarot cards and reviews of decks is:

    http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/

    A good generic Tarot dictionary I have that I use often is "Pictures From the Heart - A Tarot Dictionary" by Sandra Thompson. I hope you enjoy the journey! Blessings!

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