"Unfair!"

A meditation on judgments

Tell me, please, if you know

The answer

*

To why little kids are stricken

With cancer,

*

And while you're at it,

If you don't mind,

*

Tell me why people are

Born deaf and blind.

*

Don't speak of punishment;

I've heard that before,

*

But that god went out

With the second world war,

*

And as for past lives,

The recurring role,

*

Do they ever tell you

When you're up for parole?

*

As for me, I'm afraid

I must yield,

*

For I've not seen the rules

Nor the whole playing field,

*

So I'll just wait alertly,

Watch and compare,

*

Before I point fingers

And shout "Unfair!"

Author's Note

We may never know why stuff happens. On the other hand, do we have to know?

Reviews

[Thomas W Case]

Powerful work. We don't understand everything and it is frustrating. Great job.

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Thomas. I doubt we will ever know the full truth, unless we learn how to talk to whoever set up the system.

[Fia Naturie]

This is a brilliant spill of ink. This is unfair and as we move forward thinking maybe we will make progress and cure something... We get pushed back several steps with something else.

[John the Baptist]

Thanks. It does seem that way. And it doesn't seem to help when we complain to the management.

[Ken Simm.]

Depends on belief. Nature has no beliefs so why then do we?
This is the price we pay for love and art, and language and whatever intelligence some of us have. But then the question is who or what do we pay our dues to?
Intelligent work as always.

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Ken. Of course, if we really get fed up with the situation, we could always cancel our memberships. But that would qualify as mass suicide, which is always a messy piece of work.

[Soren]

Each person has their own philosophy or belief. I chalk it up to nature and nature has no human concept of fairness or maybe better humans have no concept of nature's fairness. Mind provoking write John

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Soren. As best I can recall, whoever is in charge of this venture never signed a fairness clause.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Perhaps there is pain so we might better appreciate the sensations of joy; war, so we might better treasure peace, poverty so that we may appreciate our blessings, death so that we might understand the fragility and beauty of life. Perhaps our existence here has the singular purpose of God making little replicas of Himself and imbuing them with understanding before they graduate the classroom of life. Genesis 1:7 "So God created man in His own image". It could be.

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, FG. True, adversity does have uses, such as the ones you have listed. Seen that way, life could be seen as a school. It's hard to say what a one year old with terminal cancer can learn, though.

[Fabian G. Franklin]

Perhaps the lesson is not for the one year old.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

some kind of punishment? I hope not.
the luck of the draw perhaps. But When I see people afflicted as you describe. I have to look at my troubles and feel like they are nothing.
j.

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, j. I can empathize. During the time I worked at a hospital I saw things that made me realize my own problems were minor in comparison.

[Marie]

Thank you for both writing and sharing this very thought provoking write, dear J. B. Spiritually speaking, it is said that before we reincarnate we draw up a Book of Life with our Guides and 'The Source' (what we call God) and into our book we put the day, date, time we will enter the human world and the day, date, time we will exit the human world and return home to Spirit. We choose our parents and siblings, we choose what we will experience as we go through life, the ups, the downs, the illnesses. We choose whom we will marry, or we may not wish to marry, if we do, we may wish not to have children or we may wish to have a large family. What I am trying to say, dear J. B... Is that we go through in the human world that which we have written into our book of life to experience. That is only my understanding of the situation. I have no proof to offer! I look forward to reading other's point of view also and of course, as always, your point of view too, dear poet. A captivating write wrapped in mystery. I so enjoyed reading and thank you for sharing, J. B...

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Marie. The scenario you describe may in fact be what happens. It's just hard for me to believe anyone would choose to end their days at Auschwitz.

[Marie]

I understand, dear J. B... Thank you for your kind words. Wishing you and your beloved s very lovely weekend to enjoy....