POETRY: SELF DISCOVERY

Demurring on purpose

Whenever I sit and think

I wish I could phrase the questions

More definitively

Accurately

And truthfully

My world view

Illuminates and fogs me

In equal measures

The great truths

The prominent lies

The best and worst of fellow humans

Includes myself

Being and searching

Closer some days to pushing

my head above the canopy and seeing more

But understanding less of what I feel I should know

Not sure why

Most complexity

Is simple at the core

But harder to grasp

And harder still to live

Perhaps the eternal mysteries

Are never fully solved in the present

Showing your best side

Don't become a bore.

Either too much

Or too little to say.

An easy slide into social faux pas

Not always overt

But evident in particular circles

It's all fair enough

No one likes a smart ass

Or a quiet mule

Promote smart listening

Nuanced enquiry

And the smile of interest

Others' stories illuminate your own

Lamenting the inactions of the past

In situ

In vitro

The necessity for the decision

not to act

was time sensitive

and contextual

In the moment

It did make sense

Now the traversed decades

peering over their shoulders

ask the difficult questions

of real intent

Perhaps expediency

Or a short term view

A likelihood of narrow thought

trapped in rigid historic frameworks

where safety

apparently lay

Some worked out

But some critical elements didn't

Mourning for those

unique situations

that yelled for attention

By seeing more deeply

More could have been done

The fixes

might have

been significant

Such flaws admitted

The relevancy to an important few

Lament has a season

Restitution is lifelong

Rupert is reminded about a forgotten box

When life seems simple but in fact is deeply complex and tangled
The mind would rather skate over the struggle rather than engage
The suck of the time and the emotion
Too much…maybe
Opening up can hurt the innermost and protected thought

Rupert can you help

Back off
Why pick me to sort the problem
Yes I could
But you know it would reach inside
And pluck out the foundations of my heart

Searing the long cultivated armoured box which no one should open
The box which was constructed in childhood

To hold and protect the soul
To repel the hurt and horrendous
To keep out the ridicule

The box is strong has held up well
But slowly I’ve seen warping of the sectioned sides
Rotting of the walls, raised to defend
Weakened as time affects thoughts and memories

Perhaps the soul is looking for a way out
To stretch and gain strength
A maturing
A slow change of focus
Throwing off limited dogma
Reframing the important things of the past
A chance to choose afresh

Ok, some good points
Perhaps I can help a little
But no looking…

The Hat With Spikes Inside

How long is long enough
How long before the mantle of duty is eased

A balancing act of precise manoeuvring
Of love and hope
Of past stories and future visions

Secure but concerned
Torn by responsibility or creativity
New opportunities or old familiar contracts

Active choosing on a daily basis
Past decisions reach forward to shake hands
Then hold your wrists or wave goodbye

Trying to hold the liquid contents of dreams born so long ago
At each moment more drips through the gaps between the fingers

Perhaps it is long enough

Ditch the hat

Feel for the future

Enacting the Verb

Phasing the degree of conversation
Because the view is so good

The silent vista opens wide to potential
Optical acuity trumps vibrating vocal cords

Too much talk betrays a vacuous mind
Mistakenly valued by the merchants of arrogance

Real merit is earned by kinesis of the heart
Showing passion not the coldness of telling

Ambulating the discourse

Validated by outcome, not hot air

Yes

I know

The beauty of thought surpasses all

I'm sure the poets have raved about it for centuries

The artists have represented it by many forms

The great orators have woven a magnificent aural tapestry

The musicians have taken the audience to heights of ecstacy with rhythmic cacophony

I just like to think

Its much safer than talking

Once the thought is properly formed

It can be revealed to a confidant

For appropriate editing and a tweak

Before others are subjected

Multiplicity of thanks to my wonderful intimate

Thank you my friends for listening

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