Survival’s Downside
A beaver who survives
predators and modern displacement
will eventually die of starvation
for the older he grows
the more his teeth curl under
preventing him from eating
life sustaining bark.
From The Edge
It’s only in hindsight
we determine
the journey good or bad
for while it’s happening
we only survive
one way or the other.
* * * *
So give me a box
or a ball and chain.
Without one or the other
I’ll go insane.
Recently I pitched my tent on National forest land
to live within the boundaries of a fixed income
with no job in sight.
by Dave Holloway
America, 2011
Very interesting. this speaks of a mind in turmoil, yet somehow settled into its place. I often think that should the world continue down this path it trods, tents in the forest--near a running spring--might be considered high living.
ReplyDeleteExcellent writing, Dave!
So give me a box
ReplyDeleteor a ball and chain.
Without one or the other
I’ll go insane.
lovely humor/talent, enjoyed all the pieces.
Happy Rally.
Awesome work. Life is about survival. We might indeed go insane if everything is perfect, not build for that either.
ReplyDeleteLife wouldn't be half as appreciated without the little downsides to challenge us. Nice pieces.
ReplyDeleteInteresting concepts keeping pace with a definite end. A beaver dies eventually from its very own nature, people are tied down by their own vices, and a journey's outcome is weighed at the end. In a way you are describing the same finite rules of existing for each walk yet at the end you leave us with a journey to break out of that set standard. We're left pondering, well, what will happen to this man in the woods. Will his teeth grow over? How will he exist without the usual conventions.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful piece.
Very wise and I agree with Lena the challenges, the journey is the important part not the final result
ReplyDeletesmart.
ReplyDeletePlease join poetry potluck week 42 today,
Feel free to submit random poems or poems unrelated to our theme.
Cheers.
Happy Tuesday.
appreciate your input.
The paragraph that starts with "So give me a box
ReplyDeleteor a ball and chain." = good shit, if I may use such crass language. Simple, simple, don't you just love poetry when it's simple? At least, I do.
"So give me a box
ReplyDeleteor a ball and chain.
Without one or the other
I’ll go insane".
That part is amazing.
Beautiful.
i love this, very amusing :) xxx <3
ReplyDelete