Intentions

photo by Mark Seitelman

I’m sure

the tree had good intentions

when it sucked in all that sunshine and rain

(growing like a weed as it were)

but Emily Post would not be pleased

watching its elbows come up through the concrete

so what good are intentions anyway?

on this steamy Sunday

the calendar says it’s not summer anymore

but the heat index never did follow the rules

(of course neither did I)

so I’m off to walk through the wet sand

there I’ll watch the saltwater erase my footprints

so what if our intention was to make you notice

by example for all those years

you never really did

intentions be damned!

Reviews

[Horizons]

What a wonderful piece on "Intention" you made, everybody has some intentions to do what they want to do but when they don't get any way to reach at the place where their intention lies, "Damned" word helps 'em to make another Intention.. lol to do what they wish to do in a day... an every new day. I loved this piece. It's well expressed under your Intentions of great thoughts. Once again you did an amazing job as always you do.

[Lydia Shutter]

Thanks so much for your review. I appreciate it. Lydi**

[Rick Puetter]

A very interesting piece. I like the example of the tree. Yes, good intentions, So what? Sometimes we simply want results and don't really have the patience to listen to excuses about how you meant well. And this can be especially frustrating from friends, children, or relatives.

So I'm with you on this. Intensions be damned!

Best regards,

Rick

[Lydia Shutter]

Thank you very much, Rick. I so appreciate the time you took to read my words and to review them. lydi**

[teardrop]

Those last six lines say it all, amazing poem with amazing depth.

[Lydia Shutter]

Thank you very much. Lydi**

[Belle]

I read somewhere ( or I think it is just me, I am not sure because with all the books I've read sometimes I can't identify if the idea is mine or from what I've read), that almost every idea, every truth about human nature have been written, have made known but what make them new in every generation is the way they are written.. And you just did same in this poetry -- 'intentions be damned" !

[Lydia Shutter]

While I am not religious in any way, shape, or form, there is a Bible verse that says, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." It is from Ecclesiastes. However, I respectfully disagree with the sentiment. I believe poets see things a bit differently....always. Thank you for stopping by, Belle. Lydi**

[redflutterby]

Yes...intentions be damned!! When people say "I had the best of intentions" it always sounds so apathetic to me. Actions are what counts. If you intend to do something but didn't follow through that kind of tells me where your priority's are.
Fantastic poem Lydi!

[Lydia Shutter]

Thank you for taking the time to read my words and leave me such a lovely review! Lydi**

[Horizon K.]

I'm a bit fascinated by this piece, yes the tree did have good intentions, and how sad when good intentions make a mess instead... They cut down those trees after awhile, pull them out, replace the sidewalk as if the tree never existed. And... I was at the beach yesterday and now you have me imagining, that each step I took across the sand had a meaning that wanted to be recognized, and yet it dissapears in a moment... I feel evanescent now... Doubt that's where you intended this poem to be taken, but intentions often go awry!

[Lydia Shutter]

Once the words are on the screen, the reader can interpret them as he/she wants to. I think your interpretation is excellent. My intentions when I wrote it might not be relevant in your life. Thank you so much for the review. Lydi**

[Jack...]

Lydi, this was fantastic. I love how you see things, the ordinary, the everyday and put them into words that makes us sit here and think, she is exactly correct. At times good intentions can have a marvelous outcome, at other times they can be disastrous. I loved this piece of writing, really makes you think.

[Lydia Shutter]

What a wonderful review, Jack! Thanks so much. I hope you continue thinking and that you arrive at some wonderful epiphanies on this Monday! Lydi**

[Frieda P]

Lydi this is spectacular , that you looked at a simple tree being uprooted and took it here is nothing short of amazing...intentions be damned, so right! Can I just say....wow!

[Lydia Shutter]

Thanks very much, Frieda. Hope Monday is good to you. Lydi**

[Frieda P]

Those are my intentions, ha...you too, enjoy the day Lydi, always my pleasure fine lady.

[Lydia Shutter]

:) You are a clever one, Frieda.

[Trace]

Great insight here, as we never intend to hurt someone, but we do, we never intend our actions to interfere with other, but they do, and sometimes when we least expect it, a tree outgrows it's confines and breaks the path that has lead so many to enjoy it's shade.. Do we stop enjoying the tree, no,,,, we adapt. Intentions be damned indeed. Nice. Trace

[Lydia Shutter]

Trace, thanks for this in depth review. I really appreciate it...and you! Lydi**

[Aethereal]

A beautifully insightful poem with good flow. That tree has no intentions, for it's not trying to do anything other than being itself. At times, walking through wet sand is just being one's self. Artificial structures forced onto Nature such as sidewalks are built with the best of intentions, but they always give way to natural forces. Footprints in the sand soon vanish as all things being what they are destroy our intended fabrications. Everything crumbles to dust, but this dust is magic pixy dust out of which all things naturally evolve. The source of this pixy dust is a matter of conjecture based on intuitive mystical assumptions. A good mystery is a joy to behold for it gives us hope. Just let what will be> be.

[Lydia Shutter]

Magic pixie dust....haven't heard that in years! What a wonderfully in depth review this is, Aethereal. I appreciate it so much. You truly understood what I was trying to express. Lydi**

[Aethereal]

You're welcome!