In Memory of a Beloved Mentor
and Cherished Friend
(5/29/12 ~11/3/84)
Has life defeated you? I rather hope
Defeatist rhetoric will die aborning,
Though seen by many merely as a warning,
Each bitter word will serve to weave a rope
By which we’ll hang ourselves when the despair
We manufacture with denunciation
Of all the grievous faults that plague the nation
Convinces us our world’s beyond repair.
What good could we expect to come from that?
Affirmation is the only answer
To the questions posed by social cancer.
Get up and dance; don’t bellow through your hat.
Although The Axe inevitably must fall,
Cringing will produce no good at all.
~ FreeThinke
Affirmation of what?
ReplyDeleteOn my morning commute this morning listening to NPR, the announcer lamented that people no longer gave the President or his policies the "benefit of the doubt", as if they were being "uncharitable" in their rejection.
After being lied to repeatedly, is it OUR fault if he no longer deserves a "charitable" benefit of the doubt?
Exhibiting "charity" does not require one to perpetually play the fool and pretend that although we've been stabbed in the back fifty times, we should smilingly accept the 51st blow.
These words were meant to "set the stage," as it were:
ReplyDelete"Though seen by many merely as a warning,
Each bitter word will serve to weave a rope
By which we’ll hang ourselves when the despair
We manufacture with denunciation
Of all the grievous faults that plague the nation
Convinces us our world’s beyond repair.
What good could we expect to come from that?
We certainly would not want to "affirm" that Cynicism, Despair and gathering sense of Impending Doom, would we?
What we need to "affirm," since you asked, is faith in our native intelligence, our power to make sound judgments for ourselves, faith in whatever creative talents we may have, faith in Family, faith in the powers of Affection, Loyalty, Devotion, Dedication to Honesty, Decency, Fairness in our interpersonal transactions -- no matter WHAT others may be doing -- and confidence in the power of Good to Overcome Evil no matter how dark and threatening things may appear.
Right jow, we've been in the business of frightening and irritating each other o the point of intellecual and emotional paralysis. We've just about convinced ourselves that ALL IS LOST and we might as well lay down and DIE.
I think THAT must be fought by affirming what we know to be good with all the vigor we could possibly muster.
These words were meant to "set the stage," as it were:
ReplyDelete"Though seen by many merely as a warning,
Each bitter word will serve to weave a rope
By which we’ll hang ourselves when the despair
We manufacture with denunciation
Of all the grievous faults that plague the nation
Convinces us our world’s beyond repair.
What good could we expect to come from that?
Stage set, opposing armies advance, each guided by teir own liaes and knaves.
It is always better to rely upon one's own resources and competence that the promised but seldom materialized resources and/or competence of others.
ReplyDeletebtw - I would advocate the expression of "Kynicism". But perhaps, that's just "me". :)
ReplyDeleteYes, Thersites, and that really is the essence of what I tried to say in the sonnet. It's a good part of that determination to be optimistic as a matter of policy we were talking about at your place a day or two ago.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I am no Pollyanna or Little Merry Sunshine, but I avoid cynicism like the plague.
Cheerio!