have you ever met
someone
who seems to be waiting?
waiting
for their purpose
to be revealed
you see
i think that
there are people
who rest against the outside of this world
like stairs
on an old building
they wait
hoping
that perhaps their purpose
will be
to offer a safe exit
to the ground
or a revealing
journey
to the vista above
each year
passing
defined
by a fresh coat of paint
32 comments:
Very interesting thoughts, Steven. A little like a wallflower who always gets left and is too shy to jump in and have a go. The fresh coat of paint is really another layer of dust...
Oh, to think of the time I have spent there! I have been spending a good year or so trying to chip off the old layers of paint.
So true, and sadly so. The upside is that these who are waiting do not have to remain in that position! Really like your poems btw!
I'm really not sure whether it be the poetry, the philosophy or the ingenuity that gets me the most, but whatever it is, long may it keep coming. Congrats again!
I don't feel sadness in this observation, rather I like the lines
"that perhaps their purpose
will be
to offer a safe exit
to the ground"
letting us know that not all beings must be doing; some of us are useful just being
You have spun a novel metaphor into a riveting poem steven. So true.
alaine i like that next step you suggest here. dust! steven
hey jenny i'm right there with you. there are times - sometimes long times where i've had a sense that waiting was the very best thing to do. to allow what was meant to become to arrive on its own terms. i don't regret those times though for they were necessary. but like most of life it only becomes apparent just how necessary each stage was in retrospect. steven
jeanette thankyou so much! steven
hi dave! tanks for your generous comment. steven
pauline - absolutely! there are times when my work has been to help people along on their journeys - i'm a teacher so it goes with the work!!! steven
hi bonnie - thankyou very much. steven
The sight of such stairs sets my vertigo a ringing.
I doubt that I would ever alight them. I'm not big on heights. I like the well closed-in variety of stairs, the ones through which you cannot see the cracks nor detect how far you might fall.
"One person can make a difference, and everyone should try." - JFK
I know that I used to wait. Now, I just do, because I never did figure out what I was waiting for.
Beautiful thoughts. Thank you.
I love that line..."rest against the outside of this world"
I think I've done that at times, been removed, waiting for that fresh coat of paint.
I am thankful that there are so many various approaches to life. Those who wait and watch have great purpose too. It's the wallowers that have me worried. Hopefully we'll all take up opportunities to grow in one way or another.
Those stairs are doing a fne job of being what they need to be- helpful- going both ways and even pausing here and there- new paint is good- (a trip to the drugstore always makes me feel better though when i get the new paint home I rarely if at all wear it)...anyway, I love your stairs and their purpose- the desire to be located perhaps in the park or in a department store rather than where they are, alongside that solid boring building - theres the rub.
Wow.
And ... yeah, I do know people like that.
Waiting is a purpose, too. Yes?
Speaking of coats of paint, we refurbished an old house once in Kansas City that had 8 layers of wallpaper in the living room! Actually, a new coat of paint makes me feel like a million.
Fabulous pic, Steven, and thought provoking words.
a most arresting thought
wonderful
thankyou elizabeth!
hello elisabeth - i have a problem with heights also. i often wonder about the metaphor that that represents and where it fits into my life and self-perception. steven
oh willow that reminds me of a bathroom i redid when is a university student. layers and layers of wallpaper. then plaster - oh no!! steven
hey butternut - one of the threads of thought that's emerged in the comments is around how it's alright to wait. i think it is. to wait and see what's meant to be. steven
barry - me too!! waiting and waiting for someone to clean me up, point me in the right direction, or for the wind to change or something. steven
joanna - yes. it's strange how you can be flying along and then grind to a halt and not be sure what stopped you and then what can start you up again. steven
linda sue - i love your take on the stairs wanting to be somehwere nicer. mmm hmmm. steven
reya - waiting is a purpose oh yes. it's the breathing in of life. steven
I think the majority of us will never know our purpose. It could be as obscure as having influenced a stranger to have taken a different path that led to... I've always liked the movie "It's A Wonderful Life" where an angel shows Jimmy Stewart how life would have been different without him.
I imagine you and Elisabeth as very tall so if I would come across you on the street I would wish to ask you
how was the weather up there at your heights,cause Im 1.65 with a perception of an giant in the past, :O)
Very nice journey on these stairs Steven,wonderful comments too!
love this
Great poem. Thanks for sharing. I love the imagery and the thoughts invoked.
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