Pygmalion Re-Formed

When I was just nineteen
A more beautiful girl I'd never seen
Than the one I had created in my mind.

She's chic and understanding,
Sensitive though not withstanding,
The fact that "playing nice" can be unkind.

Like a master artisan,
Carving as carefully as he can,
In hopes his masterpiece should come to life,

I sculpt her flowing hair,
Taking traits from here and there,
To build a mate for liberty and strife.

But through this fantasy,
I damn myself you see,
With expectation that cannot be met.

And so I must myself away,
From my dream girl for to stay,
In the real world where my feet are set.

For My Faithful Readers

It occurs to me that because my blog has few pictures (none of them of babies) and because I have no wife and kids or garden to write about, what I have to write is of no importance. Well, I wrote this blog knowing that it would not be as popular as some, but it still pains me to see that there aren't any new comments to my posts. Perhaps I need to broaden my target audience. Therefore, I will heed the suggestion of my elder sister Nancy and include some of the poetry I have written. I hope those who read this will soon check my blog again for my latest writings and spread the word.

Staring Over a Cliff

Throughout our lives we find ourselves at the edge of many metaphorical cliffs. Whether we look before we leap or not will differ from person to person and each given situation. But there are some cliffs that we come to that will cause even the most reckless person to pause, potentially life changing moments. And when the choice is yours what will you decide? To leap headfirst into the tumultuous sea of consequence or to simply walk on by knowing that you were either too afraid or too wise to jump. Unfortunately, the world has a habit of complicating even the most obvious decisions. You may hesitate on the cliff if you look below and see what seem to be happy, beautiful, people beckoning you to join their gaiety. But after jumping you realize that they and now you are all trapped in a pit to be drowned when the tide comes in. Such decisions are not to be made lightly, but take care not to remain indecisive or the edge may crumble underneath you dumping you unceremoniously into the frothy abyss. At the end of the day, your reward is how you feel about yourself. Will you say, "I looked temptation in the eye and turned away", or will you say, "I was just one sip away from being perfect?"

Aspirations

Every child, as they are growing up, is asked many times "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Answers fall over the spectrum, but the main idea of the question is to get them thinking about their future. Several weeks ago, my father asked me what I wanted to be and it has been something that stayed with me. On my morning walk I pondered the question and had a kind of revelation, an epiphany about what the question really gets one to ask oneself. "What do you think you will be doing when you have reached your full potential?" When I thought about it this way specifically, I give more credence to my past experience's, my life as a whole, and I'll honestly say, I can't answer the question. I don't know myself well enough to be able to speculate what I may become. Do any of us really know ourselves so well that the future holds no surprises for us. The answer is no. Partly because I don't believe one can know their self so that well, but mostly because the world can't help but throw a wrench in the work and in that crucial second, the world you knew is gone. An offshoot of your existence that you will never see again. And if we could, would we want to? Some say ignorance is bliss, but our own future, like it or not, is a subject our mind is naturally inclined to dwell on. In the end, this is how I decided to wrap things up: to some extent, life can be predicted. Not with crystal balls, tea leaves or the stars, but by knowing yourself. But don't have the audacity to believe that you can cheat fate of another end, because like the beating of a butterfly's wing, the smallest action in the world can influence our lives in an infinite number of ways.

The Picture Frame

When my Grandmother passed away, among the things I took for myself were two picture frames. For months I waited to find a picture that I would be proud to display around my room, but what to put in it puzzled me. It occurred to me that each individual person would have different reasons behind their choices and I don't know what kind of person I am. The first factor is what sort of picture is it that you are putting in: Whether it is a person/s, place, or thing. The next factor is "What makes this picture frame-worthy?" Does it remind you of someone, someplace, or something that you are fond of, or is it simply because it is appealing to the eye and matches the decor? Next comes the narrowing down of the available pictures to determine which one or ones will be framed. (Assuming there is a limited amount of frames and wall and ceiling space) It more or less comes down to what images mean the most to you, whether there is any correlation between pictures and other environmental factors. In this fashion, the framing of a picture of a significant other is a personal milestone, because it fills the space that could have been held by a number of other images representing your life. Inversely, the removing and or replacing of such a picture can be equally moving. To this very moment, I still have two empty picture frames, but an inclination of what to fill them with fills my day to day thoughts.

Rethinking Recompense

It is a common enough malady that when two persons have a disagreement of some magnitude, they will stop talking for a great length of time. The parties take advantage of this time to do one of two things: Wait until the other person comes crawling back so that they themselves can determine the terms of the relationship or wait until the other person comes crawling back so that they can pulverize the self esteem and repute of the other person further. When one of them gets too impatient, they go to the second person to try to get the next best options. They either go to swallow their pride or they go to deliver their ultimatum. When both people are stubborn enough to let it go on for some time, it can become unnecessary for a second meeting. The individuals involved move on, forget the offense, or have given up on the second person. It can be trouble though, when a person who has moved on is given an ultimatum. The "blast from the past" can open deep, old wounds. You start to think back over the time that has passed between the ugly past and the now ugly present. Bitterness sets in, and the words that were meant to finalize the matter only manage to make you feel worse. Guilt, jealousy, or anger could be the only fruits of having the last word. I will admit that there are some people really need recompense, people who figuratively spend their whole lives waiting by the phone for that last word. It would seem that the only way to avoid lasting pain and suffering is to not let issues fester, to get all issues out in the open and taken care of immediately. There may still be some pain, it may even seem extreme and unnecessary, but like taking off a band-aid, its better for a short sting than a drawn out pain.

Time: Does it Fly or Crawl by?

Remarking on the passage of time is something that man has been doing since before he was man. Since troglodytes lumbered across ancient plains, history was being made and kept. Though crude and vague their cave drawings give descriptions of their lifestyles and environment. The natives of ancient Choco Canyon spent their whole lives studying and documenting how the heavens changed over time, erecting massive monuments to mirror the cycles of the sun and moon. Through the ages mankind has been compelled to mark and represent every second that ticks by. And it is not a whim, but a divine calling. Without considering the past, one cannot fathom the future. There would be no foresight, no provision. Such an existence would not even be primal, but feral. Gorging and than starving, rather than rationing and surviving. To prevent this self destructive end, we take what we can from the past and use it to make a better future.