Nettles and Thistles

[fdelano]

Nettles and Thistles

 

Thorns cling and say wait.

I scoff at the scratches,

headlong in my quest,

younger in mind than

body.

 

Forever seeking the prize,

heedless that the moment

passes forever,

offering no reprise in

honor.

 

Progeny with platitudes

and no knowledge,

now hover close, waiting,

knowing but not seeing

collapse.

 

Time slows, almost

stopping the thoughts

struggling to leap

over the

carapace.

 

Questions creep in,

but curiosity fails,

as inert life finds

comfort in slow

existence.

[Gatekeeper]

I suggest, to my still working colleagues, how this happens and to beware of staying on too long.

They don't seem to be listening, nor, it seems, did I.

 

Thanks for your angle on this curse.

[fdelano]

Perhaps not a curse, but inexorable. No regrets, just sorrow at knowing the limits.

[dcmarti1]

Progeny with platitudes
and no knowledge,
now hover close, waiting,

 

Ominous. Well crafted.

[moonqueen]

"younger in mind than

body."

 

There is nothing this conveys that affects me more personally than the quote above. I believe that proves itself true, multiple times, daily, anymore. Forever seventeen, upstairs. And I'm still hoping to find that "comfort in slow existence". Isn't stagnant worse than slow?

 

Great piece, Franklin.

[fdelano]

Thank you, GK, but I'm sorry you are in my stage of life. My sons remind me often that it's better than the alternative. Maybe. Marti and Tammi, I'm glad you found things in this bit that make me think it might be a poem, though one that shows my ignorance. Not being bashful, just the truth. Some students I taught were totally ignorant about history, even after my classes.

[dr_con]

Franklin,

 

You may be younger in mind than body, but you are overflowing in hard won wisdom. Enjoyed the voice and perspective and its good to read you again!

 

Con/Jur/D

[Benjamin]

"Time slows, almost
stopping the thoughts
struggling to leap
over the
carapace."

 

The older we get.. perhaps the more clearly we see things that truly matter. Unfortunately the priorities of the young have always been at the opposite end of the seesaw of life and they tend to outweigh common sense at the other. But it's good to feel elevated in some ways G.

[fdelano]

My gratitude to all for finding something worth a comment on this effort. Tammi, you defined my state of being, exactly: "Forever seventeen, upstairs." Some may consider that state as a detriment, but I consider it a gift that my warped brain can be forever young. It's almost like an opportunity to live events again and get things right, if only in my mind. Poetry, for me, is a wonderful new thing, not in my sad efforts but letting me into the brilliant minds of others. I now realize in the twilight why my seventh grade teacher made me memorize the poetry of Sidney Lanier, Georgia's long ago poet laureate. I am glad to have lived long enough to relish the wonder of life.

[fdelano]

Geoff, I consider the culture that assumes youth equals wisdom to be so absurd that even a dunce would understand the mental void. Perhaps our times are reaching the clamor of Jacobins clamoring for the heads of royalty, with no thought of what would replace the rolling heads.