could you spare a pence of acceptance, please mister, please

could you spare a pence of acceptance, please mister, please

 

 

the fear in walking

standing too tall for the crowd

 

to not be

in order to be

 

love of self dangles

so close to fruition

 

and then recommendations

critiques

 

the fear in walking

standing too tall for the crowd

 

inhibitions shrink us

to a whisper

 

when we actually have a voice

worth its echo

 

the silence is a deafening roar

as others pass by

 

never noticing

a soul who is overcome

 

with the need 

for acceptance.

 

 

erin-cilberto

1/10/24

Reviews

[Lydia Shutter]

Most important to accept oneself first. You need not shrink next to anyone, Jacob. Stand tall and do not allow the inhibitions tie you up. Wonderful write.....introspective? Lydi**

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, introspective...doing a lot of that lately...wondering if I have done enough of what I was meant to do.
j.

[Desert Knave]

" ... inhibitions shrink us to a whisper ...". This is so very much how I am in the real world. Probably have something to say, but I never really let anyone hear it. ~Jim

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I appreciate you, Jim.
and your extended visit.
j.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Jacob,

powerful words spoken all too true ... Why is it Human nature to live our lives as though we are all not but flawed and faulted creatures struggling to live out our lives? Why do we have that need to reside above others, rather than with and among others as the imperfect people we are, who do the best that they can do? ...

Supremacism's Better Than Thou-Ness is rooted within us all, whether it be birthright, bloodline, religion, culture, politics, race, or ideology, and it is that very Supremacist Better Than Thou-Ness that shall be the ultimate cause of the demise of Mankind's Humanity currently on the road to oblivion's extinction, not by the hand of Nature, colliding Asteroids, or the fading of our own sun, but our inherent insistence upon believing that, somehow of some way, we are better, more righteous, more intelligent, more right, more deserving, than are others ... It is an inherent tendency that I choose to call: The Religion of Supremacy ... Life without giving and receiving acceptance is utter and merciless emasculation, as though we, our uppity selves, shall never suffer the same fate for whatever reason ... History teaches otherwise, attests that we all live, and we all are going to die, in the same earth, though it might well be miles apart, but dirt is dirt, and we shall each have a handful cast upon our caskets to seal the deal than none are better than others and death serves as that true democracy of making all men equally dead ...

Excellent writing here ...

Marve

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Many handfuls, Marve...many.
thank you for your insightful review.
j.

[Patricia Wedel]

dearest Jacob... a Pence of acceptance dances around as street peddlers become the way of the World. An Auction of Souls becomes Routine. Begin the Bequine. Amen... Pat

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, sweet Pat,
j.

[andrew mitchell]

Maybe sometimes it’s not about acceptance but true self wanting to break out from under a mask that is in place to protect.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, andrew...it is.
thank you,
j.

[FGFRANKLIN]

They say the need for acceptance is universal but I must wonder, acceptance from whom? I never gave a penny's worth of thought to what people who didn't know me thought of me. So my friends have been few in life because so many people want validation. My view has always been that respect is earned and very often familiarity breeds contempt. On the other hand, the friends I have made lasted thirty, forty of fifty years or until one of us passed from this earth. Most of my lifelong friends are gone now. I've mostly always swam against the current trying to make my own way, find my own style and be my own person all my life. I never cared if that pleased others or not. I just wanted to be happy in my own skin and I've accomplished that after many years of trial and error. Like Ricky Nelson once famously sang, "You can't please everyone so you've got to please yourself. Wonderful writing as always, Jacob. You always inspire thought and consideration with your works.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I went to that Garden Party...and my most treasured friendships have been those of give and take and ones that have lasted thirty to sixty years now...Two way streets with comforting traffic...
thank you, Fabian,
j.

[emmajoygreen]

Whether or not we walk tall often on our knees, others will do it, often in packs, wanting to feel power because they need find it from somewhere. Cruel fact: a person is more alone amongst a multitude!
Have stood on street corners collecting for charity and seen quite a few slick suits and newly pruned hair saunter by looking the other way because it is easier than putting a hand in the pocket. But, give college kids, mums and the elderly, those with little in their pockets who know what it is to need. See a man walking past a glass shop window, running his hand across the glass, some will laugh, thinks he is mad He is, he's home from war safely... almost whole. Is easy to be lost, unseen. saves others the efforts of stepping into other folks' shoes.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

so easy for some to look the other way...
yes.
thank you for these words, em.
j.

[Lorry]

The silence of passers by is a bit of a roar, isn't it?
I've noticed it myself lately, that since lockdoon's eased, the mask slips and so do we, into our old comfortable habits of BC (before covid) when after the initial excitement and smiles of being free, I think more and more are just back to their regular life of ignorance being bliss, just as long as you're not the victim.
Your words here, along with my thoughts, mixed up into a shudder that may well probably have shattered my back, if I wasn't so well protected from the cold! 😊

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your words, Lorry,
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Oh, that self doubt when it creeps in. It certainly cuts you down like a felled tree.

the silence is a deafening roar
as others pass by

Finely penned dear j.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Chris...I appreciate the encouragement.
j.

[John Sullivan]

Doubt and validation... Our time is limited, so we must walk boldly where we may... great read

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, John...
j.