Sages

100 words and something very different

Two sages from opposite points on the earth meet high in the air between them, having been granted infallibility by the divine.

“Shall we solve the problems that plague the world?”

“We cannot.”

“You are correct. What would the people rail against?”

“What shall we do then?”

“Try to be good, kind and fair.”

“That is all anyone can do.”

“Try to lead the way.”

“I have a disturbing thought: what will happen to the world if we disagree? Will we tear it apart? Create a paradox?”

“No, we will create a grey space and name it open mindedness”

“Agreed”

Author's Note

For those who often read my writing, I know it's not what you expect from me. Open to ideas for improvement and wondering if the end is worth it. The whole piece was written for the last two lines.
Thanks to an amazingo person for both the inspiration and encouragment.

Reviews

[Kathy Van Kurin]

'Sages'
Shannon,
This was the theme of 'sages' taking some kind of active role in the lives of humanity and two from opposite sides of the earth. I saw it as the difficulty of finding commonality between cultures. The whole world is different in that the different cultures are different as poeple groups and often exercise themselves as a separate unit within there own culture. I had trouble explaining myself. Sometimes philosophical explanations are hard to put into words. Anyway, this poem was valuable for the opportunity it presents for considering how we think and view others.
Blessings,
Kathy

[Hogwarts]

The simplicity of this is perfect. A simple piece of writing about a simple idea: being good, kind, and fair. It is a short story, but it has depth to it. You are extremely talented.

[Shannon]

Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed this. It was an excersize in carving words down to a bare concept.

[Giulia King]

“What shall we do then?”

“Try to be good, kind and fair.”

“That is all anyone can do.”

“Try to lead the way.

Exactly! Well done!

[Shannon]

Thank you Gullia, it's one of my more unusual works.

[creative Marie]

Simple yet Interesting. I'd say these two make a fine pair Sages; which in my opinion a Sage is any form of a guardian, someone or something that may watch over the earth with us and guide us from time to time, but not necessarily do anything to directly change or control the natural order of things. They both seem like very humble and sensible characters I would even love to read a story surrounding their partnership and how they might influence the chaos of the world.

Also I'm curious are these the only sages in your universe or are there others?

[Shannon]

Thank you so much for your thoughts on this piece.

[Archia]

I liked this idea of open mindedness coming from disagreements and I think it's especially interesting because in general disagreements open mindedness is not often considered. I think the end was very clever. Just a small thing, some lines don't have punctuation at the end so you might want to just give it a brief read and put it in. For something so short there was to think about it, wonderful job.

[Lost, n'MT]

While the significance of sage escaped me going into reading this piece, I really enjoyed the message I perceived and the very unique writing approach and writing style. I really enjoyed the back and forth dialogue with the two sages interacting. I thought this was both cleverly written and enjoyable with a positive message whether intended or not. This was a nice read, but I keep thinking back to "Slumped" though, and the man walking the turtle/tortoise keeps making me laugh, lol.

[Shannon]

Thanks. I did write them back to back, funnily enough. But the inspiration was completely different.

[Lost, n'MT]

Interesting, definitely very different, I did enjoy them both different reasons. You're welcome.

[Coyote Poetry]

Amazing thoughts in your words. I have carry sage for many years. Sage support to heal and repair. A paradox? Old wisdom taught to me by kind grandfather. Lead with concern, kindness and love. May disagree but we must stay friends. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry.
Coyote

[Shannon]

You, sir are the first to notice how carefully the word sage was chosen. Many words mean "wise person", although maybe most are not gender neutral, so I was limited by that. Around here sweet grass is more common, but sage is used. The multiple meanings of sage absolutely played into this word selection.

[Coyote Poetry]

I learn many years ago. Different kinds of sage. Each with their own healing power.

[Kaliope]

A wonderful tale and a brilliant conclusion, all masterfully told in 100 words. I know how difficult it can be to work with such limitations, so I am all the more delighted when I come across a drabble that really impresses me. Hats off, this is great!

[Shannon]

Thank you for your very encouraging words. Brevity, especially in prose, is always a challenge!

[Papaya]

Open mindedness...
That would be the best outcome for sure!
As much as we say we are open minded, we're not really.
We all have our personal views on things. We just don't always voice them.

[Shannon]

I think most of our open mindedness has large black spits where we can't see. But doesn't make the grey any less of an important aspiration.

[Shannon]

And thank you so much for reading and weighing in.

[Papaya]

You're welcome! :)

[busterlee]

I live in the grey. I liked the conclusion. It was a smooth jab at fundamentalism.

[Shannon]

Intolerance in general. Thank you