Exit/Enter
Today I am grateful for a pleasant birthday and all the well wishes from family and friends via several communication routes.
I have been a poet since I was 11 or 12. In recent years, I have written fewer poems, turning instead to more essays. But the poet in me will always be there. Consider this the last poem of my forties, or the first of my fifties. I wrote it at age 49 shortly before turning 50.
It is really about reining in my propensity to default to negative thinking. That is what my habitual practice of gratitude is about as well. It works. It really does.
To exit
My forties
Self-pity
Wants to
Arm wrestle
With gratitude
One damn thing
After another
Has piled up
In and
Around me
A pity party
Started sounding
Warranted
But gratitude
Is in
Far better shape
From regular
Exercise and use
And handily
Defeated
Self-pity
As I enter
My fifties
I have
Fifty x 50
Reasons
To celebrate
And live life
Fully
But also fifty
Forms of
Self-pity
Lurking
I will continue
To gratefully
Flex the muscle
Of mindfulness
To put some
Distance between
Myself and the
Enticing self-pity
As I exit
My forties
I reflect
Humbly
As I enter
My fifties
I seek
Grace
No room
Or time
For self-pity
7/5/15
Thanks for allowing me to share my latest poem. Have a good day!
I have been a poet since I was 11 or 12. In recent years, I have written fewer poems, turning instead to more essays. But the poet in me will always be there. Consider this the last poem of my forties, or the first of my fifties. I wrote it at age 49 shortly before turning 50.
It is really about reining in my propensity to default to negative thinking. That is what my habitual practice of gratitude is about as well. It works. It really does.
Exit/Enter
As I prepareTo exit
My forties
Self-pity
Wants to
Arm wrestle
With gratitude
One damn thing
After another
Has piled up
In and
Around me
A pity party
Started sounding
Warranted
But gratitude
Is in
Far better shape
From regular
Exercise and use
And handily
Defeated
Self-pity
As I enter
My fifties
I have
Fifty x 50
Reasons
To celebrate
And live life
Fully
But also fifty
Forms of
Self-pity
Lurking
I will continue
To gratefully
Flex the muscle
Of mindfulness
To put some
Distance between
Myself and the
Enticing self-pity
As I exit
My forties
I reflect
Humbly
As I enter
My fifties
I seek
Grace
No room
Or time
For self-pity
7/5/15
Thanks for allowing me to share my latest poem. Have a good day!
I think I still have some original poetry from you from the old softball days! Happy Belated Birthday as well!! I am just catching up on your blogs...
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy writing some of that rhyming verse for our softball seasons. Good memories and thank you for mentioning it. I appreciate you as a reader. Thanks for catching up :-)
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