Sunday, November 04, 2018
POEM: MADMAN AND THE MIST
By: Donovan Baldwin
Author's Note: I am a poet. I do not normally write stories, and, this is not a serious attempt to move into that area. I leave that to those much better at it than I. However, I was thinking some special thoughts today, and this came to me. It's unedited and pretty much as it came out of my fingers. Despite being a "story", it came out in some sort of vague poetic form. Apologies for any confusion.
There was once a madman,
Whose anger knew no bounds.
He raged against life
For the pain, fear, and trouble,
It had brought him.
One day, he woke to find a mist,
Wafting in the air outside his door.
Angered, he stepped into the mist,
Intent on driving it away.
Instead, he felt himself enveloped
In a warm and welcome way.
Two soft and gentle arms
Enfolded him,
Comforting and cradling him.
Within the mist he saw a smiling face,
Bright eyes, soft lips,
That offered him a kiss,
And spoke kind words,
Which slowly stilled his anger.
Quietly, his head dropped to rest,
On the soft, warm breast,
Of the vision which held him,
Safe and calm within
The mist.
Those who watched saw only,
The madman drop his arms,
As the rage left his eyes,
While he stood within what seemed,
Just a white and formless mist.
Slowly, the vapor disappeared,
But, the madman remained calm.
Oh, from time to time,
He would again begin to rage,
But, the comforting apparition
Would return,
Leaving him calm and at peace,
Within his heart.
Eventually, even when there was
No apparition to soothe his ire,
Just the thought of the smiling face,
The gentle voice,
The comforting touch,
As she held him close,
Author's Note: I am a poet. I do not normally write stories, and, this is not a serious attempt to move into that area. I leave that to those much better at it than I. However, I was thinking some special thoughts today, and this came to me. It's unedited and pretty much as it came out of my fingers. Despite being a "story", it came out in some sort of vague poetic form. Apologies for any confusion.
There was once a madman,
Whose anger knew no bounds.
He raged against life
For the pain, fear, and trouble,
It had brought him.
One day, he woke to find a mist,
Wafting in the air outside his door.
Angered, he stepped into the mist,
Intent on driving it away.
Instead, he felt himself enveloped
In a warm and welcome way.
Two soft and gentle arms
Enfolded him,
Comforting and cradling him.
Within the mist he saw a smiling face,
Bright eyes, soft lips,
That offered him a kiss,
And spoke kind words,
Which slowly stilled his anger.
Quietly, his head dropped to rest,
On the soft, warm breast,
Of the vision which held him,
Safe and calm within
The mist.
Those who watched saw only,
The madman drop his arms,
As the rage left his eyes,
While he stood within what seemed,
Just a white and formless mist.
Slowly, the vapor disappeared,
But, the madman remained calm.
Oh, from time to time,
He would again begin to rage,
But, the comforting apparition
Would return,
Leaving him calm and at peace,
Within his heart.
Eventually, even when there was
No apparition to soothe his ire,
Just the thought of the smiling face,
The gentle voice,
The comforting touch,
As she held him close,
Labels: anger, comfort, donovan baldwin, love, madman, mist, poem, poetry, rest, story
Monday, September 10, 2018
Measure Twice, Cut Once
By: Donovan Baldwin
There's an old carpenter's adage, "Measure twice, cut once." In other words, don't just lay the tape out, assume that what you saw, or thought you saw (no pun intended - well, maybe a little), was correct.
It's worth checking what you're about to do before doing it so that you don't have to regret afterwards.
You can't add back that extra inch or centimeter you accidentally cut off because you got the first measurement wrong.
You cannot always reclaim a relationship, your personal pride or self-esteem, or restore someone else's, once you've whacked it off at the wrong point... or for the wrong reason.
Oh, sure, in the real world, we often have to do things "on the fly", or, simply, being the messy, imperfect humans that we sometimes are, go with our first reaction, and, to steal a thought, regret at leisure. Still, there are times when taking a second look, doing a reassessment of the situation, and, our intended response, IS possible.
Might be worth the effort.
You might discover that your first reaction is sometimes a little "off". After all, "heat" CAN make things change size, or look hazy, temporarily.
Might want to re-measure when everything's cooled down. Or, just apologize. That sometimes DOES put that extra inch or centimeter back on.
Magic.
There's an old carpenter's adage, "Measure twice, cut once." In other words, don't just lay the tape out, assume that what you saw, or thought you saw (no pun intended - well, maybe a little), was correct.
It's worth checking what you're about to do before doing it so that you don't have to regret afterwards.
You can't add back that extra inch or centimeter you accidentally cut off because you got the first measurement wrong.
You cannot always reclaim a relationship, your personal pride or self-esteem, or restore someone else's, once you've whacked it off at the wrong point... or for the wrong reason.
Oh, sure, in the real world, we often have to do things "on the fly", or, simply, being the messy, imperfect humans that we sometimes are, go with our first reaction, and, to steal a thought, regret at leisure. Still, there are times when taking a second look, doing a reassessment of the situation, and, our intended response, IS possible.
Might be worth the effort.
You might discover that your first reaction is sometimes a little "off". After all, "heat" CAN make things change size, or look hazy, temporarily.
Might want to re-measure when everything's cooled down. Or, just apologize. That sometimes DOES put that extra inch or centimeter back on.
Magic.
Labels: adage, anger, carpenter, donovan baldwin, life lesson, measure, measure twice cut once, relationships
