Does this ever ring true! Work, work, work. Don't I know about it. It used to be that work was important, but it didn't take up all my time. Now it's 24-7. And I know my wife doesn't like it. Well I don't like it. Nobody likes it. It just that we're pushing so hard. So much has been commited to lose now if we don't just push a little further. But it's almost addictive. It's knowing when to quit that's the hard part. And I look at my partners. They're working too. Sacrificing family time, personal time, income for the company. It's almost like a betrayal if anyone of slacks off. It's been years like this. Everyone is exhausted. Health has been compromised. Relationships have been strained. But we see that horizon just before us (really!). But when we get there will there be another? I can already see it building. Sigh. Choices. What to do? Sigh. Push, I guess, but maybe not so hard. This is a real dilemma, and I think about it a lot. I have to. My wife wants to know when things will get easier. So do I.
Very well done Ellen. It's so true that we all want more n more till one day it dawns on us, that we did'nt really need more and never spent enough time, appreciating the little things which are so very important, and sometimes it too late to recover. It's a sad one, but one to give a jolt. Thanks so much for sharing.
Babsie Bee xx
So many times as years pass in a marriage..one or the other gets too wrapped up in job or children to give to the other what they need..Love and Attention is wanted all through life..Men..get that in your thick skulls!!!!! God bless Valentine
Wow this is fabulous... starts off with such an intimate romantic feel then crashes into the reality of life.. sometimes people give to much to give loved ones all they want or to gain career highs but really what is all of that bout without love.
How sad that going up the ladder makes us forget how beautiful it is on the ground! Seems that money and status has become so important: ' The firm has become your focus in life.' Ambition is one thing, doing the best you can for family is another.
I won't make any further comments because, if this is true, it would be extemely rude to condemn the situation, I just hope that this poem is read and read as a moral, that maybe, just for a moment, people re-think about the daisies rather than the orchids.
The following lines say it all: 'Two silhouettes dancing in the shadows, Intimately entwined though not alone,
Intensely evoked loving thoughts of you. I even sensed a waft of your cologne.' ... the thought, the need, is hidden in the shadows and all there is a waft.
This is a thought-provoking, sad poem, written very beautifully.
It is so queer, how we men manage to convince ourselves that by earning more money and more esteem, we can best meet the needs of she who knew us before we had either. At heart, we are all still hunter-gatherers, I suppose, though none would willingly admit to never having ourgrown our Neanderthal antecedents! What will it take to make us realize that there are some needs more urgent than a 7000 sq. ft. house (still, just a dry spot to sleep in), or a third car (still, only a means from A to B), or a corner office (from where we can look and see that our cache--the house and cars--are unmolested!) Your beautiful piece addresses that inexplicable self-delusion, and it's something EVERY "Up-n-Comer" needs to read, at least once a month!
My friend you certainly left the box completely behind with this one. Absolutely fabulous! You write so visually and the smoldery emotion can be felt. "Two shillouettes dancing in the shadows...intimately entwined though not alone"... I truly admire this poetic and very romantic work.