A Natural State Of Tension Poem by David Welch

Some people say we must be at peace
within ourselves and with the world,
as if we should all become Zen monks,
with serenity our precious pearl.
But folks at peace don't strive and seek,
since they feel no apprehension.
Perhaps it's best to always be
in a natural state of tension.

This may seem bizarre at first,
too much tension and stress can kill,
but a lack of it is only achieved
through a destruction of human will.
The urge to eat, the urge to breed,
are stress-inducers worth a mention.
How far would we have made it without
these natural states of tension?

The athlete who does the impossible
must first subject himself to stress,
the kind that often does more
than put butterflies in the chest.
The surgeon fears what will happen
if he fails to give his full attention,
could either ever achieve greatness
without a natural state of tension?

The writer looking to change the world,
feels the weight of his great task;
the artist making something from naught,
by an endless drive is lashed;
the genius looking to make his fortune,
to show the world his great inventions,
could not get where they need to go
without these natural states of tension.

Without the stress churning within,
man's spirit soon grows cold.
If you want to see a diamond shine,
you must put pressure to coal.
To manage it is hard, I know,
but there's a reason we are sentient,
we can bend to our will even the pain
of these natural states of tension.

To keep oneself in a settled state,
is to surrender to the decline.
Not to mention how bored we'd be
to live with an unchallenged mind.
Though some out there see these ideas
with only fear and reprehension,
without them we'd just be hairless apes,
give me a natural state of tension.