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JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana

0 posted 2011-02-11 02:20 PM


my position in this moment
is mine to enjoy
or not
I have undergone much drama
to fulfill my destiny
drama of my own making
perhaps
but surely there were some
which bore not my signature
as old as I am
and I am old
I have not been a sickly specimen
visiting the hospital
visit after visit
still . . .
miracle drugs have given me mainstaibility
my body has not been broken
my face has not been maimed
I've not lost limbs in the wreckage of automobiles
my brain
though dysfunctional by some standards
has stayed the course throughout
riches have not found me
I have not sought them out
not really sought them out
this hovel I live it
is neither my rightful place
neither is it my doom
it just is

so!
living on borrowed time
as they say
knowing the next breath could be my last
I understand life more now
near the end
than ever before
  
I live for the beat of poetry
for the unstructured lines that I write
oh, there is much I understand
still, there is more I wish to know
I want to know why men fight wars
no
not true
I understand the pettiness of war
of man's overwhelming desire
to push his way onto others
I want to know why men are cruel
to others
because they speak a different language
or look different
no
I understand the Biblical thought
of the Tower of Babel
scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth
I understand it
but I don't comprehend it

my race has not been run
neither yours nor theirs
we run the race
for we can do no other
we cannot pick out
whether we should be who we are
or be who we are not
if we are rich
if we are poor
if we have fame
if we are a nobody
if we can alter our course in life
if we cannot
whoever we are
inside
we will always be

~ There's nothing worse than desiring more than you are desired.--Justine Cook / "Portrait" ~

© Copyright 2011 Jerry Pat Bolton - All Rights Reserved
faithmairee
Senior Member
since 2011-01-05
Posts 1441
Poe Haven, USA
1 posted 2011-02-11 02:41 PM


WOW...this is phenomenal...it's brilliant and so genuinely written...i love it!

There must be a poem in here somewhere.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
2 posted 2011-02-11 03:25 PM


Hi Faith. Thank you for being here and for your exceptional comments.

~ There's nothing worse than desiring more than you are desired.--Justine Cook / "Portrait" ~

Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
3 posted 2011-02-11 04:00 PM


yeah, what she said. Your thoughts as you go through this process are manna for thought.  Thank you and bless your heart for sharing.
Lori

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
4 posted 2011-02-11 04:27 PM


Haha! Thanks, Lori. Bless you for being here.

~ There's nothing worse than desiring more than you are desired.--Justine Cook / "Portrait" ~

Margherita
Member Seraphic
since 2003-02-08
Posts 22236
Eternity
5 posted 2011-02-27 02:25 PM


quote:
there is more I wish to know



And that's one of the reasons that keep us all going.

Love your profound ponderings here ... and the conclusion too.

Very well done.

Love,
Margherita

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
6 posted 2011-02-27 02:48 PM


Thank you so very much, Margherita.

~ Never did I feel more devoted to my wife than after biting the wild garlic of treachery ~

Alison
Deputy Moderator 5 ToursDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Rara Avis
since 2008-01-27
Posts 9318
Lumpy oatmeal makes me crazy!
7 posted 2011-02-27 03:38 PM


I like how you question, and know the answers that work for you.  I think many of us second guess what we know to be right inside us.  Know what I mean?  I agree with much of what you write - possessions don't really draw me (though I am not above admiring houses when I watch the "House Hunter" show - but I also believe that shows like that dictate to too many people what should be important in their lives).  I don't know where I will live tomorrow - I just know that where I am is mine today.  It might not meet someone else's standards but where I am makes me happy.

Sorry, I am wandering here. I can be a prattler.

Alison

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
8 posted 2011-02-27 03:55 PM


I'm a prattler too, Alison (damn I keep wanting to put two l's in your name), except for today. The phrase "sick as a dog" comes to mind, still . . . Thank you for stopping by and reading and commenting on my words.

~ Never did I feel more devoted to my wife than after biting the wild garlic of treachery ~

OwlSA
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347
Durban, South Africa
9 posted 2011-02-27 05:24 PM


This is soul-quivering, Jerry, and my favourite of all your poems that I have read so far, and I suspect, for all time.

Owl

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
10 posted 2011-02-27 08:01 PM


Thank you Owl. If I make it through the night I may live. Tough,
steavenr
Member Elite
since 2003-11-17
Posts 4058

11 posted 2011-02-27 09:40 PM


I think the longer we are on our journey, the more:

"oh, there is much I understand
still, there is more I wish to know"  

...could be described as our mantra...excellent write

Honeybunch
Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115
South Africa
12 posted 2011-03-02 02:37 PM


Awesome write, Jerry!  Yes, there is much in life that we "understand but do not comprehend".

Helen

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
13 posted 2011-03-02 04:17 PM


Thank you, steavenr, and Helen. sorry I'm not around much, I'm still sick. Thanks again.

~ Never did I feel more devoted to my wife than after biting the wild garlic of treachery ~

[This message has been edited by JerryPat2 (03-02-2011 06:51 PM).]

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