Ph: Life: Everyone Leaves / Everyone Grieves (Your Choice) Poem by Brian Johnston
Ph: Life: Everyone Leaves / Everyone Grieves (Your Choice)
Have you ever noticed this trend?
It might be a drought or a war,
Blows quick to strike and slow to mend,
And even if I have a friend,
Everyone leaves / everyone grieves. (Your choice!)
Strangers tell me 'You seem so sad, '
Though sometimes I may find a door.
I know expectations are bad,
But frequently I just feel had.
Everyone leaves / everyone grieves. (Your choice!)
.
It might be a dog or a cat,
Acquaintances who are rich-poor,
Married-single, tall-short, slim-fat,
What experience tells me is that
Everyone leaves / everyone grieves. (Your choice!)
It seems so sad every man dies,
Still some seem to dare hope for more:
Though I raise my eyes to the skies
The beauty around me just flies.
Everyone leaves / everyone grieves. (Your choice!)
December 21,2013
Ah, the old holiday blues are here...
'Everyone Leaves' was the original title of this poem, but it was written for a friend I was attempting to coax her away from her sadness by embracing the most extreme expression of this feeling, i.e., a debating technique where you make another's position look ridiculous by exaggerating it. This attempt failed though, I just made the idea more powerful.
Now this poem reflected on me in a way that made me uncomfortable. So I ask my friend's permission to change the title. It changes the meaning of the poem, but it more accurately reflects what I hoped to say to her. I hated the thought of her feeling so sad and alone. The new title is 'Everyone Leaves / Everyone Grieves (Your Choice!) and this phrase now replaces the phrase 'Everyone Leaves' in every stanza of the poem.
The reason I like this change is that it opines we have a choice of how we want to view the world. 'Everyone Leaves' suggests that we are all essentially alone, i.e. 'we are 'born, live, and die alone, ' to quote my friend, who is fine with that idea. I am not. 'Everyone Grieves' suggests the possibility that every human on the planet shares/feels our grief, that we are not alone at all. And most of all (and this is my firm belief) that when anyone grieves, God cries too. It is an interesting question though why God would let us experience pain like this. The answer, however, is simple, the experience of pain produces growth. Do you not give your own child a bicycle that you know the child will fall off of? If you don't believe me however, at least consider the possibility that the God that you hold in your mind is both too small and your own creation. How could such a 'God' not fail you?
From my perspective a bit of a gray write with a touch of melancholy and a hint of choler. I'm hesitant to buy into the concept that when anyone grieves, God cries too although I understand the idea is imbedded deeply within Christian-Judeo thought patterns. I can think of lots of instances where grief is felt, but the root of the grief may well have been God's anger...the bible itself is rife with such examples: the battles, the smites and the smotes. I'm not so sure those still alive after witnessing such Divine interventions weren't grieving over their loss(es) and I expect that if they were not showered by many, if any Divine tears. Check out my poem, IT Just Is.
It is a saddening thought that we are all alone in this world with everyone turning their backs and leaving us in a state of desolation! Over it we grieve....! It is our choice ultimately either to grieve or to accept it as an undeniable truth knowing that basically each one is alone and has to live his life! This I think will be a more rational interpretation than what you intended it to be...ie, everyone grieves when you grieve! Some may be there to share our grief for sometime, but they cannot be with us all the time as they have their own grief! So ultimately we are the ones to compromise with our own lot! Great poem!
The last verse is so life like to reality so it tells us to live...the end is always nigh...nice to read...regards
How nice you are to do this..it always be a big theme in life talking about leaving after meeting, i always remind myself that if tree has no leaves we still can stand as we are the trunk, though without leaves we look less admired, pale in life excitement...but we still can stand strong...as also if we are a golden ring that loses a gemstone, we may lose the precious shine but dont forget that we still worth enough to be as ourselves. Though people come and go the one that with you always yourself and the one that accompany you is always God..so we are not supposed to sad because its not only you, me, he, she or them..but everyone face this in life, so better we value what we have since we still own it...a nice poem Brian :) _Soul
Leaving and grieving are parts of life. Guests come. We are happy. When it is time they leave. Our concern lingers till they safely reach home. Joy and grief go hand in hand making life what it is. Beautiful poem bringing in the realities. Thank you.
Your know Mike that I don't always like what you say but you do make me think and for that my friend I thank you. Christ told us clearly that every word of the Old Testament is the intentional word of God to us but then there is the New Testament as well. God in the Old Testament seems angry and vengeful, whereas God, as seem through the lens of His Son, seems to espouse mercy and grace. And yet Christ's own words seem to be declaring both things are true. What paradox! This suggests to me that we must be looking at this situation from the wrong vantage point. Is it possible to position ourselves so that the paradox disappears? Well my good friend, it seems to me you have just handed me a very good complaint which I now at least intend to try shed some light on in a new stanza for my poem So Many Questions. Thanks for the great idea. With God's help may I prove up to it (or at least make a dent in this fascinating area of interest) . Stay tuned!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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6/8/2023 12:54:06 PM # 1.0.0.1113
The natural phenomenon has been brought down through your pen. The entire nature is embodied with two aspects which is narrated in different words. so leave/grieve is also one of suitable aspect. with regards