Claiming peace of mind in ‘any’ place
such silly presumptive prattle
Sure, in cities blessed by luck or grace
be they Stockholm or Seattle
Quite another kettle of fish, uh
if in Gaza or Mogandishu?
Not Poetry. Quatrain Verse in English & Swedish. Dagsverser. On the Mundane & the Arcane.
Claiming peace of mind in ‘any’ place
such silly presumptive prattle
Sure, in cities blessed by luck or grace
be they Stockholm or Seattle
Quite another kettle of fish, uh
if in Gaza or Mogandishu?
Now’s the time to be strong minded
While the past always matters
when by flashbacks am reminded
I mustn’t drown as it splatters
Rather stretch to my boldest stance
in each new moment’s fraction
am offered yet another chance
with short time frame for action
as resolve tends to fade too fast
never known to loiter & last
Underneath our ‘witticism’
on occasion it seems
lurks unkindly criticism
even lies & grim schemes?
As long as we don’t bore
or taking purloined pity
on those hapless we gore
what’s wrong with being witty?
Have we not learnt that life is unjust
so why do we still react nonplussed?!
I vad som kan kallas
kanske en arvsrätt
t.o.m åkallas
inom viss folkrätt:
I Frankrike ingen bagatell
att var morgon äta sej mätt
i sed djupt förankrad kulturell
på en nybakad färsk baguette
som varje morgon nationellt
bakas fullkomligt manuellt
She knows her mind
her convictions strong
her heart beats kind
discerns right from wrong
Sweet as sound of dulciana
warm as Summer wind in Havana
crisp as Winter in Montana:
That would be our wondrous Anna!
Better known for compassion
than icon of high fashion
Years rushing by her
without slowdown
faster & faster
goes the countdown
Even without disaster
life is the hard taskmaster
So why live in blurred hurry
when to live well in the moment
with its own joy & worry
remains life’s greatest bestowment
Sam, a 17 y.o. grandson, did a ‘hat trick’:
There was this footballer named Sam
who swiftly went bam, bam & bam
All without a hair out place
what a cool, good looking ace
Poor goalie could not do a damn
+)
hat trick = scoring three goals in one match
Others’ proclivity
for shameless self-pride
and dull naivety
keep get things cockeyed
So you, know-it-all minion,
won’t let any verified fact
influence your opinion
or allow fairness to detract
Can’t undertake introspection
when howling strong in projection
+)
projection = (psychiatry) a defense mechanism by which your own traits and emotions are attributed to someone else
Dragoons galloped in the Light Brigade
led by incompetence, stupidity
Now another mind-boggling ‘crusade’
this one in commercial avidity:
Likewise is ‘ours not to wonder why’
when charging in reckless cupidity
ours is just to swipe the card to buy
‘Alive’ while wilting in flaccidity
A lack of reflection on blind obedience
may serve to hide in cowardly expedience
+)
From poem ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Tennyson about the 1853 Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. The British light cavalry charged, due to its leader’s stupidity & incompetence, on a frontal attack right into the lowered muzzles of Russian artillery. Hence “Ours is not to wonder why. Ours is just to do or die.”
As humans we stagger
in endless desert
keeping up the swagger
digging for paydirt
While our lives set to go awry
why letting cowardice disgrace us?
Don’t despair & lie down & die
just one sand dune til the oasis!
Life’s purpose may be unknowable
at least to humans nebulous
but if in brief glimpses showable
ought that not get us emulous?
What if albeit just for this day
we’d grasp & walk Universe’s way?!