Chaos

...beauty within chaos...

Chaos

chaos reigns

and yet order

from disorder

as a new conversation begins.

it reminds me of something I heard-

“we all are living in the gutter,

yet some of us are looking to the stars”,*

and you say, “huh”?!

well, in the midst

of all the horrors,

all the drones and torture,

all the wars

and planet destruction;

out of all this

resides the possibility

of great and wondrous change.

change where humans

find their beauty,

not perfectly,

but through struggle

create a world

of voluntary associating humanity.

out of all the horrors of today

great beauty can emerge

and isn’t this

“looking at the stars”.

redzone 2.21.16

*quoted lines are from Oscar Wilde

NOTE: in a small café near the Joyce Theater here in NYC, I met 

Leslie and Fred. They had just come from a dance performance

and we struck up a conversation. I wrote this poem and gave it to them.

I also told them that I would mention them when I posted the poem

on line. So, thank you Leslie and Fred, for the conversation and inspiration.

Author's Note

thanks for reading... enjoy the music...

Reviews

[barleygirl]

I wish I could conjure up such hopefulness, but not today. Maybe there have been too many additional world tragedies since you wrote this. I wonder if you feel this sense of hope regularly, or just in wild-a*s inspired moments. Even if it's not possible to transform the world & humans away from this current tragic path, at least I applaud you for continuing to sing a song of hope. I feel there is no one big answer, but that we must each keep chipping away, adding hopefulness & positivity along the way, transforming one moment at a time, cheering up one person at a time. In these ways, you walk your talk.

[highonwords]

i love the subject of universal love, brother to brother, sister to sister , fellow human to fellow human - we all share the same template of sentiments despite the barrier of cultural and historical differences - we all know compassion and kindness and love, one or the other way :)

best,
steph

[Einstein Noodle]

yes it is sir :) we have quite the history of surviving horrors of all kinds .. i'm a sucker for hope tho ... like your poem ... looking up at the stars ;)
E.

[Pryde Foltz]

All new creation flows from chaos ... wonderful write, Red.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"associating humanity" i am prone to lean that direction...but those damn drones---out of destruction can come reconstruction...we just have to stop the former and embrace the latter.

[Lyn Anderson]

out of chaos comes optimism -- such is the nature of humanity -- why the children smile over a chocolate bar they take home and share amongst 5 siblings in a shanty hut.

[redzone]

exactly KL... it is within us and more within our capablities to create a world where there are no longer "shanty huts" and each child will have a chocolate bar!!!

Thanks so much for your insights and comment KL, I think you have such a "nature" and it shows, often...;0)

[Lydia Shutter]

WOW....Leslie and Fred must be amazing people to inspire such a write, Curt! In the midst of all the horrors, I do look at the stars....and some would say I gaze through rose-colored glasses. Life is never quite as bad as it seems and there are always stars twinkling just a tiny bit out of reach. It is the optimist who sees them...and then strives to reach them. I thank Leslie and Fred for shaking these words loose from your mind....these very "nice" words. Lydi**

[redzone]

thanks Lydi, the conversation started when Fred was asking Leslie whether it was correct or chaotic to serve from the left, as in etiquette; I kinda intruded and said I ate the food no matter which side it was given, whic made Leslie laugh and Fred said, oh but then there would ne chaos... so as they talked I wrote this poem and then gave it them... this sparked more conversation, but this time around dance and theater.. it was a "nice" 15 minute conversation..

So that is the story of Leslie and Fred and if I do see them again I will tell them my friend Lydi said thanks!!! ;0) as I have as well, for reading and a cool and "nice" comment...

[Lydia Shutter]

:) Thanks for letting me know "the rest of the story!"