Girls too, Women

Girls too, Women

"He was a young man,
taken before his time."
The TV said.

The old man grumbled that
every boy is taken before their time, whatever their age.
 

He meant himself.
He was sorry for himself.

I was not sorry for him so
"Girls too, women," I offered, and at his hurt glance
bristled
because he did not understand why
I would need to mention that.

He simply said it again,
every boy is taken--
and I could not convince him.
Nothing remained but this:
I nodded in agreement.
What else could I do?
There are some thing you cannot say
for fear of being offensive.

But now, in private, I can tell him,
Where he will not hear me,
that
he should not have been so hasty.
That
no matter what your age,
it might still be exactly your time
or
even
after your time.

"You are not owed a life,"
I should have said,
nodding sagely.
At his reddening face
His thickening growl

I would have said it again.
"You are not owed a life."

Reviews

[Rita L. Sev]

How true - we are not owed a life, and tomorrow is not guaranteed. We walk through life with that attitude of entitlement and invincibility, as though it's how it should be. We are not the ones to decide that - Life is - and every day we get is a gift. If we want it to mean more, we have to make it that way ourselves, and then go to our graves satisfied, whatever age that may be. Poignant and thoughtful write!

[TLK]

I agree. I would go a little further: every day SHOULD be made into a gift, and we all indebted to each other in order to make this true.

[Rita L. Sev]

Yep. :)

[Acropolix]

We are born to live, though many forget the part of dying.

[TLK]

This is true.

[Ed Hart]

yes we are not owed, not a life or a love or a job or a winning lottery number...the bumper sticker says 's**t happens', when the larger truth is everything happens...we are the witnesses, the survivors, up to that solitary tick that isn't balanced by a tock...i like it that you put a lot of meat in the stew

[TLK]

What tales the survivors could tell, if only they were alive to tell them.

[Miss. Smith]

A great observation on life.
"you are not owed a life" I agree with this deeply, you are not owed years of life, it is a wondrous thing that life is here at all.
Beautiful.

[TLK]

Thank you. I find the ideology that we should expect longevity and happiness to be extremely detrimental. It takes away from our awe at the fact we have anything at all, and the will to fight in order to make sure that as many get the most that they can.

[Ufi Auttorri ~ Amy C. T..]

It is not "nice." It is a necessary medicine that everyone should consider swallowing if they would retain a healthy perspective. Well done.

[zainul]

Great piece.
Amazed by the expression:
"Nothing remained but this:
I nodded in agreement.
What else could I do?
There are some thing you cannot say
for fear of being offensive."

[Elephants & Coyotes]

At ALL.

I say thanks for being gifted the opportunity to experience Life, every day.
Again - wonderful.

[TLK]

Yes. Partly, this is about the dichotomy of "life is an expectation" vs. "life is a gift". There is also a good amount of my cynicism, and my genuine desire to be unpleasant when people annoy me.

I am always amazed that I am married. And then I feel humbled by my luck.

[Elephants & Coyotes]

I wanna see your cynicism at full-force.
Humour me?

[TLK]

I am too careful to be that unguarded... for who wants to leave vision of oneself to the future that are not biased towards the admirable?

/strokes chin

[Elephants & Coyotes]

Exactly!
But, that's the coyote part of my name.
I like to be open to operate in whichever side of me arises.
I wrote a piece, straight from the mouth of the coyote in me.
I would love to hear what you think:
http://hellopoetry.com/poem/playtime/

I felt like my insides were floating in mischievous liquor, waiting to spirit whoever should take a sip.

I love where i was, when i wrote it, even though it isn't at all a facet of myself that i would ever fully become.