The Hopeless Romantic

Not to quibble, make too much of

how you like to read everything right

to left, but …

 

knowing how things end up before

you’ve even begun, makes life

a little too black and white,

cookie-cutter convenient --

 

in my books. Thorns

are the essence of a rose,

the reason love, well-done, bleeds.

 

Every fool eventually forgets

the inherent danger -- and

  

caught up in the complications of the plot

twists, dig themselves a hole …

 

too deep to navigate through reason …

 

you learn to sink or swim.

 

Which way you chose to drown --

what’s left to write -- but

 

read the bloody book. 

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[willweb]

It seems that no matter how careful we are, those thorns seem to find flesh. Now how you deal with it makes all of the difference in the world. Beauty or pain.

[W. Barrett Munn]

A lot of fun watching the balls bounce around in your mind, like one of those connect the dots puzzle books. A poem is after all a leisurely walk with no particular goal in mind.

Winston

[Fabian G. Franklin]

This was a great read. I think everyone's personal experience will be different. I don't think love hurts. But I do think unfulfilled and unrealistic expectations can bring a world of pain. Mainly, most folks get angry when things don't go their way but maybe some are too demanding or fickle or peculiar in their desires. Since every situation will be different, who can say? There's no "one size fits all" to love anymore than there is a recipe for a perfect life. Even if folks had one I believe they'd add their own ingredients before mixing it up. All any of us can do is the best we can...as you say, "sink or swim', it's up to us. Sometimes I think it's better to go with the flow rather than try to fight the current or the tide. None of us can stay afloat forever but at my age I'm trying my best to conserve energy.

[Carlos Lorenzo Estrada]

I agree with these profoundly true words of wisdom. There are no short cuts in life. Eventually everyone has to face the pain. The only thing we control is the time we take to end and learn from our wounds. A very nice write Ken. With loads of wisdom.

[Chris]

Chuckling here... but wheres the fun in that? The coffee still gets cold before ya get back to it.

[Ken e Bujold]

good to see you friend. glad you got a chuckle. genesis for this is the 2&3rd lines. My wife is Singaporean, ethically chinese, and don't know if you know or not, but chinese read books backwards from us. right to left, which combined with the rapidity of her reading, she can read a 200+ book in a matter of hours, which of course i have no way of confirming since i can't read the chinese pictogram alphabet, hence the long running quibble between us, about whether she really read it. from that poems are born

[Chris]

Nods to the knowing... other languages are read that way as well. And arguments abound!

[Chris Shaw]

Thorns are the essence of a rose - how true. You don’t get one without the other. Isn’t that life for you in general? A mixture of both. And life is also about sink or swim.

read the book

Have you published it yet? I enjoyed this read Ken. All the best.

Chris

[Ken e Bujold]

thanks Chris. and not yet. tentatively end of April, early May. Wrestling the foundation, 12 poems that are the core, took a little longer than i wanted, but are now locked in. next few weeks are the final rewrites of the rest, about 50 pages or so...but they are shorter and less vexatious so staying on track should be ok. Also should allow me to spend a bit more time here, catching up on my reading.
hope all well with you

ken