Pages of Life, Ink of Existence

Well apparently this blog has decayed into an outlet of bad poetry. Might as well perpetuate the tradition!

Beneath the vast pages,
Upon which the universe is writ,
Beyond the ink of all time,
Which spells out existence,

There lies a truth.
Simple it is,
Yet profound beyond meaning.
We all seek it.

As though in a trance,
We act out the daily monotony,
But each of us had a time,
In which he sought the Beyond.

Few find this truth, If any at all.
Most, with time, grow weary,
Most forsake their pursuit,
Few seek ever on.

Those who never tire in this journey
are transient, never still, ever changing.
Between the lines of reality,
They read and they seek.

Without end they may persist,
And without end this truth will elude,
For the Pages of Life are many,
And the Ink of Existence is thick.

The (Last?) Supper

Far have I strayed from you, and wide.

Though I had the wine of your spirit before me,

I left your table to sample the offerings of the worldly kitchens.

Fine, the fruit of sin tasted to me,

For the flavor of your fare had long since been chased from my palette.

And As I dined at the world’s table,

I cast your favor from my soul.

I turned from you

To converse with the tortured and damned souls,

with whom I broke my bread.

But over the Feast’s music, I head your whisper.

In the fine crystal from which I drank my draught of death,

I saw your countenance.

Framed in the silver halo of my plate,

mine eyes glimpsed yours,

And I saw.

I forsook but was not forsaken.

And after a time, I saw the fruit of sin was rotted,

The wine of the world was but vinegar.

so I turned back to you,

And from your faithful fount,

I now fill my cup.

The impact of a smile

We all crave attention — we are all human, and thus we all want to share our joys, our fears, our triumphs and our sorrows with  others.  We want other humans to listen, to empathize, to pay attention to us.

How many times a day do you walk past unhappy people?  How often do you see a coworker or a friend who is  having a less-than-perfect day?  I know that I walk past dozens of  unhappy people every day (I work at a retail store, unhappy people are a way of life, afterall).  Let me tell you the story of one of my dissatisfied  colleagues, Amanda.

Amanda works in the Loss-Prevention department of my  store which means that she stands at the front of the store, looks intimidating and makes sure that nobody  gets out of the place with anything that hasn’t been paid for.   I first met Amanda after having been at the store for less than 2 weeks.  I had gone up to the front of the store to buy a pack of gum and, per company policy, after paying  I walked to Amanda’s desk so that she could verify that I hadn’t stolen the gum.  My first impression of Amanda was not a very favorable one; she had somewhat of a glower when she stared at me, she wore an expression of dissatisfaction and her body language suggested that she was not enjoying her day.  Basically, Amanda was making it clear that she was not in the mood to be bothered by anybody, especially not the new guy from Texas.

Despite this less-than-welcoming appearance I decided that I wanted to be Amanda’s friend.  So I put on my most friendly voice and introduced myself.  Clearly, she was neither pleased nor honored to met me; the tone in which she gave me her name was, frankly, scary.    But I didn’t really think Amanda was particularly violent so I shot her my most charming Texas smile and asked her why she looked so upset.  After several awkwardly silent moments, my smile melted her frosty resistance and Amanda actually started to tell me about her day.

As she talked, the most amazing thing happened: Amanda’s air of unhappiness evaporated before my eyes.  It was  as though she had simply been waiting for somebody to show a semblance of genuine interest in her life to share her burdens.  As our conversation continued, Amanda opened up like flower in the morning and revealed a beautiful heart beneath her icy exterior.  Just below a seemingly solid surface of ice was a sweltering sea of emotion, and all it took  crack that ice was s simple smile and a single question.

Everybody needs love and attention at some point, even those who seem the most icy.  You may be surprised at how much frost a smile can melt, and how much of an impact one question can make.

Welcome

Howdy Y’all,

and welcome to my blog. This is where, in the days to come, I will post my ridiculous, absurd, enlightening and probably boring comments on the world around me.