Humanity
Humanity, whom I have never loved,
Can leave me with dismay
At its array of triviality.
Normality is hard to bare,
When I’m aware
That sometime,
Somehow, and perhaps somewhere;
But more especially someone,
Can make the fun,
Provide the light
That makes the sunshine bright
The night more right,
And gives the fight to live
An edge that’s often blunted
By the boredom of the birth
Of ordinary days.
It’s not just praise that satisfies,
Who provides the prize, should realise
That what’s required
Is not retired minds
Where finds are difficult to make.
I need a risk like gamblers take,
Where the rake-off could be high enough
to make the sky seem small.
So that even when compared
With all that is or’s ever been
The momentary scene could shrink
the total cosmos to a single wink,
and encompass in an eyelids twitch
The which,
The how,
The when,
The why.
So that,
Just once before I die,
The reason for the pain
Is plain.
© James Rainsford 2012
Note to readers: Posted as my contribution to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets. Please click on the comments tab below to record your views. I'll respond to all who visit here.
Kind regards to all who who call in the pub to sup from its verbal vintages. James.
Don't think it will ever be just plain, always some screwed up meaning behind it. Great flow too and the risk of a gambler can pay off between me and you.
ReplyDeletei dont know if we will ever truly understand the reason for the pain or why things happen...but we can provide each with a little shade from the rain and sun...
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written James. You have captured perfectly the deep need within each human heart to know the reason for suffering. Keep seeking.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with Elizabeth--beautifully written--and thoughtfully done--Thank you!
ReplyDelete@AudreyHowitt
I like these lines best:
ReplyDeleteI need a risk like gamblers take,
Where the rake-off could be high enough
to make the sky seem small.
And your picture above got my attention ~
http://a-sweetlust.blogspot.com/2012/01/honour.html
We often KNOW the cause of the pain, but I find its the degree to which we are capable of feeling it that often takes me by surprise. Absolutely love the music of the words, not to mention the paths my mind has been set to travel. Wonderful James...as it always, always is!
ReplyDeleteDon't count on it, James. But, by all means, keep rolling those laffin bones...
ReplyDeleteJames, beautifully written!
ReplyDeleteThis one really speaks to me, James. You touch at the very core of where I write from here--the sense that among the dross of humanity's middens, there is something, someone, waiting with the thing above all else that has significance, affinity, if I could only make the right moves to uncover it, sense it, *find* it. Finely crafted, and a pleasure to read, and the illustration sets the mood for this introspective but universal piece.
ReplyDeletesounds simple...
ReplyDelete