Riding On A Pendulum Poem by Jim Yerman

Life is like a pendulum…rhythmically swinging to and fro…
it swings back and forth through opposing forces wherever we may go.

Nothing ever stays the same…our world is in a constant sway…
it's like there are a multitude of pendulums swinging every day.

We come, we go…we give, we take…sometimes we succeed, sometimes we fail…
we sleep, we wake…we have highs and lows…we breathe in, we exhale.

We're at war, we'e at peace…we create, we destroy…we agree and we disagree…
we feel sorrow, we feel joy…we ‘re serious, we're silly…we are a friend, we are an enemy.

We laugh, we cry…we're foolish, we're wise…sometimes we are the patient, sometimes the nurse…
we love, we hate…we're true, we're false…why we even marry for better or for worse

It doesn't matter where we're from, who we are, or our individual upbringing…
the rhythm of time doesn't stop…the pendulums keep swinging.

There are times we know the length of the arc…like from sunrise to sunset…
while other swings are indefinite…like through sorrow…or regret.

Sometimes the pendulum seems to swing high and fast…like how quickly our family grows…
Sometimes when we're lost in sorrow…it seems to swing so slow.

Most of the time we have no control over its distance or its flight…
and the best we can do is climb aboard…close our eyes…and hold on tight.

If we're lucky along the way we realize the pendulum doesn't just swing…it glides…
so we sit upon its bob…hold on…and try to enjoy the ride.

All the time praying the pendulum will swing quickly through our sorrow…allowing us to retain our smile…
and when it swings to joy…we pray it lingers there a while.