This poem was written by a friend that’s part of a group I meet with
“Poets or theologians or saints or warriors all,
Or lovers or astronomers. Like honey-drops the speech
Distilled in apophthegms or verses from the lips of each,
On roses and predestination and heroic wars
And rhetoric, and the brevity of the life of man, and the stars.”
Anyway I liked the poem a lot, and asked him if I could post it on my blog. He said it was OK but he wanted it to be anonymous. I suppose if you know me well you might be able to put a name on it from these hints, but that’s all you’ll get in this post.
How do we want it to end Because it will These kinds of things don't last forever So By accident or choice How will it come about That our histories will henceforth Be told in separate chapters Separate books Kept handy upon the nightstand Or gathering dust on a forgotten shelf Either due to a consequence Of choice or conflict Eventually we will move In relation to a fixed point The choice to move toward Does not require looking back But, always looking back Is to not see where one is going Memories of an angry voice Or disappointments Are heliocentric suns From which we can't look away Around which we blindly move By emotional reaction Or free will Either things will get stretched And stretched Until the tension is too much A violent snap shooting us off In opposite directions Or we will be standing at a door That one of us must close Gently, intentionally And be allowed to close And from which We must both depart By consequence of reaching forward Or consequence of past conflict Either way we choose But what will we tell ourselves? How should it go When it goes When we go When one goes Either as one slipping silently away Around a corner And into obscurity From cause to destination unknown A speechless retreat Designed to create A cloud of unknowing A fog of unanswerable inquiry Or as one gently closing a door As one both leaving And accepting one's own leaving And one allowing the leaving In acceptance of an era ended Of joined timelines split Taking separate trajectories How should it end With the end in mind Let's banish all stories No tall tales In which I am the hero of mine And you of yours And whereby all's explained And thereby all's set right From one point of view And no dilemmas too No horns on which contradicting Choices or values Pin us down No lesser of two evils No predeterminations No predestinations No accidental events After all, it's just been us All along, and what we do How do "I" want it to end With the end in mind In sight What does my dignity require That someday I will close the door (Unless you've closed it first Or have vanished with it still ajar) I will close the door While wishing you good luck I will close it gently With you in my eyes Until the final sliver disappears And the latch clicks And then I'll turn toward Whatever future I've heard calling And to which I'm moving Forward November 2017