This poem was written by a friend that’s part of a group I meet with <\/p>\n
“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.” <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\n\nHow do we want it to end\nBecause it will\nThese kinds of things don't last forever\nSo\nBy accident or choice\nHow will it come about\nThat our histories will henceforth\nBe told in separate chapters\nSeparate books\nKept handy upon the nightstand\nOr gathering dust on a forgotten shelf\n\n\nEither due to a consequence\nOf choice or conflict\nEventually we will move\nIn relation to a fixed point\nThe choice to move toward \nDoes not require looking back\nBut, always looking back\nIs to not see where one is going\nMemories of an angry voice\nOr disappointments\nAre heliocentric suns\nFrom which we can't look away\nAround which we blindly move\n\n\nBy emotional reaction \nOr free will\nEither things will get stretched\nAnd stretched\nUntil the tension is too much\nA violent snap shooting us off\nIn opposite directions\nOr we will be standing at a door\nThat one of us must close\nGently, intentionally\nAnd be allowed to close\nAnd from which\nWe must both depart\n\n\nBy consequence of reaching forward\nOr consequence of past conflict\nEither way we choose\nBut what will we tell ourselves?\n\n\nHow should it go\nWhen it goes\nWhen we go\nWhen one goes\nEither as one slipping silently away\nAround a corner \nAnd into obscurity\nFrom cause to destination unknown\nA speechless retreat\nDesigned to create \nA cloud of unknowing\nA fog of unanswerable inquiry\nOr as one gently closing a door\nAs one both leaving\nAnd accepting one's own leaving\nAnd one allowing the leaving\nIn acceptance of an era ended\nOf joined timelines split\nTaking separate trajectories\n\n\nHow should it end\nWith the end in mind\nLet's banish all stories\nNo tall tales \nIn which I am the hero of mine\nAnd you of yours\nAnd whereby all's explained\nAnd thereby all's set right\nFrom one point of view\nAnd no dilemmas too\nNo horns on which contradicting\nChoices or values\nPin us down\nNo lesser of two evils\n\n\nNo predeterminations\nNo predestinations\nNo accidental events\nAfter all, it's just been us\nAll along, and what we do\n\n\nHow do \"I\" want it to end\nWith the end in mind\nIn sight\nWhat does my dignity require\nThat someday I will close the door\n(Unless you've closed it first\nOr have vanished with it still ajar)\nI will close the door \nWhile wishing you good luck\nI will close it gently \nWith you in my eyes\nUntil the final sliver disappears\nAnd the latch clicks\nAnd then I'll turn toward \nWhatever future I've heard calling\nAnd to which I'm moving \nForward\n\n\nNovember 2017\n\n<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This poem was written by a friend that’s part of a group I meet with “Poets or theologians or saints…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-friends-poem","has-excerpt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=409"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":413,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/409\/revisions\/413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodnews.homedns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}