Last summer, I shared two posts on resilience and reverence. The first, “Three Steps to Resilience” was a how-to narrative. Then, I re-wrote that piece as a poem in “Reverence for Me.” Over the last few years, I have used this technique as a challenge to improve my writing; prose to poem, or poem to prose. Unlike analytical narrative, which does not encourage interpretation, poetry demands it. This is poetry’s power: interpretation prompts engagement that creates a relationship between the writer and reader. It encourages discourse as opposed to the terminus of persuasion that is the aim of analytical narrative. Recently, I learned that this approach is not new, none other than Benjamin Franklin also used this process to improve his own writing. Following in his footsteps—even unwittingly—seems a good practice. It makes my mind do flips and cartwheels that, while challenging, always reveals new perspectives and insights while helping avoid the onset of intellectual sclerosis that seems to afflict many of my aging peers.
Today, I offer a poem that attempts to capture the life-process I outlined in “The Identity Trap: Suffering or Transcendence,” (August 2, 2022) that illustrates the four phases of life: preparation, achievement, actualization, and transcendence. Two stanzas are meant to reflect each phase, in order, for a total of eight, punctuated by a final line of deliverance. Toggling between the essay and the poem allows two forms of interrogation on these most important questions of identity and the meaning of a good life. The essay is 2,096 words while the poem is 110 words; in essence, the same message. I hope one or the other, or both, resonate with you.
The Arc of Life
Your life is yours
The lovely and gnarly
White space beckons
Inviting a masterpiece
Welcomed with joy
Stumbling, climbing
From abstract to real
Striving to shine
The pain of wounds
Bathed by pure light
Cleansing then healing
Scars become honor
Cheers and sneers
Certainty and chaos
Ardor conquers all
Vicissitudes vanish
Beliefs and knowledge
Give way to wisdom
Beatitudes cascading
A gift from the Mount
Ignoring fools
Left to goad others
Desires dwindle as
Calm becomes armor
The loud fall quiet
Disturbances wane
Silence blossoms
So the soul can speak
A whisper of goodbye
Gracefully now
From glory to peace
A sweet liberation
Tendered to eternity
