Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
When Spring blossom releases
with inexorable mettle
bit like coming to Jesus
amidst bursts of finest fettle?
Unfolding petals lustrous
bursting in anthesis soundless
Contrasting humans blusterous
in their nauseous noise boundless
Ethereally endowed
each staunch bantam blossom
grows eternally unbowed
fulfills presence awesome
While Nature stays in full control
mere arrogance the human role
+)
anthesis = the flowering period of a plant, from the opening of the flower bud
I did not become that leader of men
that mighty lion roaring in his den
Not pumped up enough my ego
or perhaps lacking gumption?
Feeling too stiff in tuxedo
or bothered by compunction?
Feeling guilty of indulging
while others ail & tumble?
Loath to proclaim with chest bulging
while trying to fake humble?
Too deficient a Philistine
to travel by limousine?
Too concerned with the unforeseen
bored with intrigues Byzantine?
Or perhaps, putz
just lacking guts?
Why flailing in futility
when beckons the other way:
Of living in tranquility
not succumb to racking fray
Why persevere in mimicry
when beckons the other way:
To live in authenticity
not just in escapist play
Why upbraid in ubiquity
when beckons the other way:
Living in equanimity
gathers up Life’s full bouquet
Back then had seemed remote, unknown
would seem like fatuity
when up on to these shores tossed, blown
but since turned fortuity
By winds, were they happenstance
brought me in disaffect
On waves, were they circumstance
in life I was shipwrecked
Back then I was downed, almost drowned
Since then blessed on dry steady ground
+)
these shores = here: the US Pacific Northwest
Can’t be kind or sentimental
dressed up in our power suit
we must display ‘metal mettle’
empowered to act the brute
Focus on what’s at stake:
To make profits shine
grabbing all we can take
boosts the bottom line!
Swimming with opportunity
while prodded by peer pressure
who can pretend immunity
from turning rabid thresher?
But beware! The greed on Wall Street
is the greed in our own heart
So as we darkly scheme & cheat
ain’t no excuse blame we’re smart
Face when poorly we pay heed
(restraint of course, we dread)
that a heart consumed by greed
won’t stand us in good stead!
As fades this day to evening
did we live fully, well
(not just burrowing, cleaving)
At peace when comes day’s knell?
If on day’s gallop we felt thrilled
were our furrow straight, deeply tilled?
Were we too absorbed to allay
to show heart or others’ plight?
Did we take pause in the day’s fray
of our misdeeds feel contrite?
Have we alighted fulfilled
so our heart now can rest stilled?
Out riding, lightly pedaling
shall still thoughts which percolate
From the workday’s din deafening
freed to calmly meditate
Shall grant rolling latitude
from our life’s churning grind
Fellowship with solitude
when gliding unconfined
Cycling tempers motorized indulgence
ushers us in to quiet effulgence
From turgidity no rest
while life’s journey thwarted
Grab hold rigidly with zest
hurry, get it sorted!
So wake up, go & aspire
or find your life wasted
Do so before you retire
or suffer lambasted!
No peace found in breathless rushing
or pride felt from slack-jawed gushing
Indulge fantasy, discard reason!
Rich times in planet plundering
our Species’ finest fracking season:
Boundless bludgeoning, blundering
Greed brought upon us final defeat
raiding, rustling & ransacking
Soon no livable ground at our feet
as planet sending us packing!
Who but our own sweet Humankind
shall leave so much garbage behind?
Humans hardly benign
perhaps not evil
while by will or design
still just primeval?
As when in jam exigent
without known precedent
why’s our response negligent
cowardly hesitant?
Is planet Earth merely God’s petri dish?
Humans his experiment with death wish?