Double Bind Poem by Jonathan ROBIN

DOUBLE BIND
The book of Life too soon is signed
away, as to eternity
all vain pretentions are resigned,
few dare discover covert key
unlocking cipher which behind
inked letters haphazardly
we link together - for mankind
has prior claims, priority.

For Cause, Effect, in double bind
are united. Who'd be free
from one the other meets behind
the veil through which few mortals see.
Complexity's thus intertwined
with perceived simplicity -
yet some solutions groomed may bind
to tomb doomed groom presumed to flee.

No culture code or time-line twined
with cant restraints can ever be
maintained for long. Life's dice remind
contentment knows no prepaid fee,
no cash-and-carry cheque combined
with D.N.A. for passage free
accorded few. Most, ghosts, resigned,
are stifled by rife misery.

There is no fate which, pre-defined,
MUST circumscribe life's destiny,
leaves cheese for some, for others rind
to gnaw while stretching sanity
beyond the limits humankind
should tolerate, while vanity -
inanity - must soon unwind
its substance rotting on life's tree.

When I was born I woke to find
a world in bloom, but lived to see
fair flowers fade. Death came, unkind.
May joys not jade, nor love, for thee.
Beyond Time's dark, incessant, grind,
find ways with creativity
to soar, explore, - scope redesigned -
rejecting blind conformity.

The moral here is underlined: -
play for the day, meet what will be
with open heart and open mind, -
sufficient flexibility,
to see Chance is not undermined,
that every opportunity
may lead beyond bare alley blind
towards serenity.



20 May 2005 revised 8 October 2006 and 9 February 2021