and when you’re a child, you learn so much
of ‘grown-up’ life, of ‘grown-up’ values –
by the tone of voice
in which they say things
my mother, saying of a particular person
whom I’d never met – or if I had,
would not have known what to make of them –
‘She’s a simple person’
and the tone of voice with which she said this
was full of compassion, without a touch of criticism:
it meant, she has no mind with which to make complexity.
Not a hint there of some label like mentally challenged,
or mentally under-privileged;
rather, the purity of a soul untrammelled;
indeed, a state of grace
for in her day, the honourable poor
looked after, were at one with their simpler kin;
while free to honour the skilled and fortunate
and I listening, wondered if I could rise to life’s challenges
as a simple person.
Could one? A question of courage, then again. Read mine - We The Unencumbered - Adeline
Excellent...simply put to lead a better life and rethink what really matters..I am still learning in fact have much to learn and young I'm not, at least not by years marked by the calendar......marci.m. :)
I am also pondering over the same point ' how I can rise to life’s challenges as a simple person. '. But, Lord Jagannath is taking care of everything. He has made all the arrangements. You don't believe...........? ? ? ? ? Peace Gaurav
I love this Michael. A wonderful read. I struggle to be a simple person. Someday. ~Aaron
What a poem to make you really re-evaluate the way you live Michael! I think we all (at least I do) strive to reach that place in life where we are just living as a 'simple person', not stressing about those things that make us ugly (jealousy, money, anger, resentment, etc.) . I love it when a poem makes me turn on my path I am on in life, just a little turn makes me feel like I'm heading the right direction. (I hope that makes sense) . Thank you for the guidance you lay before people whether you intend to or not. Love, Mary
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Liked this one Michael, in Ireland they would say Simple Soul. Colin