Sunday 21 March 2010

Waiting at the bus stop!

Still struggling back-wise - so am posting a day early for the Poetry Bus - added to which the plumber is coming in the morning to fit us a new bathroom - so it is all stations go here - back or no back!
As for the poem on "rage" - well, as you will see, I find it hard to get really angry about anything these days:-

Rage through the age.

At thirty I raged
about the bomb;
Hiroshima still raw -
Coventry, Dresden -
horror of warl
I held my protest banner high
and dared to be counted.

At forty, immersed in
Eng. Lit, I raged
at censorship. How dare
"they" limit what I read
or saw?
I marched with fervour for a
change in the law.

At fifty - in Florence -
we saw
a march of workers waving
communist banners and
red flags;
we joined in - for the thrill -
round and round the Duomo-
but the fire had gone, and anyway
we couldn't read their banners!

Is it just me, or does
advancing age
water down the rage?

Now I think
was there any point where
my protest changed anything?
Now I let everything
vanish in thin air;
no more rage
just despair.

39 comments:

Rachel Fox said...

Oh Weaver! Maybe your best yet.

It could possibly take a tweak or two here or there but that would be minor, tiny things.

I love it! The end is heartbreaking.

x

Acornmoon said...

A brilliant poem, your last line was a surprise, I didn't expect it to be so bleak. Hope you are feeling better.

Anonymous said...

Great poem!..I, too, was surprized at the bleak ending.

I'm sorry your back isn't letting up, I have occasional flair-ups, but ice and anti-inflamatories help..plus yoga if you can believe it. And..staying off the computer alittle more.

Feel better soon!

Elisabeth said...

This is such a powerful poem, Weaver, especially given that you're in pain with your back. The cruelty of the last line's despair makes me want to borrow another's lines: 'Do not go gently into that good night, rage rage against the dying of the light.'

steven said...

ahhh weaver!! rage is something i didn't feel - despair, frustration yes - now i work to bring goodness into the world rather than crush the bad stuff. it seems a nicer way to spend my energy and has a more positive effect both inside and outside my little world. a clever clever poem weaver. i wish you well soon really i do!!! steven

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

So true!

Sorry to hear your back is still acting up. Not fun. Hope you feel better soon.

Did you ever read John Sarno M.D.'s books on back pain (The Divided Mind, etc.)? He says bad back pain is caused as a diversionary tactic of the mind to prevent repressed rage from bubbling up from our unconscious. He gives a technique for getting rid of the pain which only involves your thinking. Worth a try. Costs nothing, risks nothing and can't hurt. Many (even with diagnoses of slipped or disintegrating discs, etc.) have used it with success, including me.
I have a more complete post on it from July or August, 2009.

Take care dear Pat.

Totalfeckineejit said...

A real and really fine poem.Wise and true.Believing that the world can change is futile.History shows it never changes Bad may do occasional good (just as good does occasional bad)but intrinsically it will always do bad.Globally we are fecked, but the point of life I suppose is to change ourselves (for the better) and as much of the tiny area around us as we can.Our response (however futile)to the world around us is how we will be measured.
It is a sad ending to your poem, anger is less physically and spiritually draining than disillusion but the correct conclusion.Great poem


Glad you went on a few marches Weavo! Get some poteen rubbed into your poor back and get yer boots on!!

Crafty Green Poet said...

I enjoyed your poem, I agree with Steven's comments. Hope your back feels better soon

Elizabeth said...

Like Acornmoon,
I was a little saddened by you final line.
I think one has to become a little zen about the whole thing --care passionately about what we can change
and then understand that both good and bad will always co-exist.
End of sermon
but loved the poem.
Do hope back improves!
weather much better here and even some daffodils.....

Leenie said...

So glad to see your poetry post. A wonderful, fun and thoughtful piece of writing. Hope things go smoothly with the new bathroom.

Pondside said...

In truth, I think a lot of us will feel some connection with this poem. I don't think the rage of youth is misspent - and I don't find it unusual to lack the energy to bring up that rage as we get older. There's room for protest and for funnelling energy into bringing goodness intot he world (thanks Steven!).
re the despair - I'm so sorry about your back and hope you'll soon find some relief.

Babette Fraser Hale said...

Weaver,
I missed details on what has happened to your back but believe me I truly sympathize. I hope that the poem, which is made truly strong by that last line, overstates your personal feelings but I empathize. Currently, the way people and nations behave in the external world gives much reason to despair of human nature. But for us as individuals, I have found that the extraordinary cycle of seasonal life around us in the country counters much of the despair that world events place before our eyes.
May your pain melt away. May your bathroom fittings go smoothly.
Have you shared with us what you're doing about your back?

Heather said...

Excellent poem - I know how you feel! When your back allows you'll be able to luxuriate in your new bath. Take good care of yourself.

Rosaria Williams said...

This is brilliant! I came in from Cloudia's.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear your back is still causing you distress, Weaver. I am learning to let go of the anger, 'rage' is too strong a word, to describe how I feel at times

Penny said...

Damn blogger! my comment went into the ether.
What I think I said was that if we dont rage or stand up for our rights the powers that be tend to think they have the right to do whatever they like, so letting them know in some form or other is a good thing.
Hope the back is getting better.

Lyn said...

Great poem... it's good to let anger finally slip away..not to be substituted by dispair, but acceptance..you sort of have to live a life to know that! Thank you...

Titus said...

Oh Weaver, I agree with all of the above - truly impressive poem.
The end line is so astonishingly bleak, and that's brave writing.

ChrisJ said...

Oh the rage is still there, but by now we know it's all just too widespread. This poor old world needs a complete makeover. I share Steven's sentiment, but I think good poetry often has a surprise ending. And that reminds me that what I believe is that the Lord has a surprise ending for it all

Enchanted Oak said...

Hello, Weaver, I'm dropping by for a first official visit as I take the Poetry Bus tour for the first time as well. I believe your poem and claim it as a true description of my own life experience. Your last line is the only valid statement I think you can make. Anything else would be artifice. Yes our youthful exuberance is reduced to something a little melancholy and realistic. We realize how little change we've actually effected on the world around us. I think that causes us some despair. That is my truth, anyway. I share it with you.
If you care to follow the link, here's my ride on TFE’s Poetry Bus.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to get political but don't give in to the despair. Protest is meaningful and has had real impacts and changed the world. Visit http://www.newint.org/ just the best political magazine, keeps you informed about both the problems and the real solutions going on all over the world, read about people who have protested and achieved something. Ok, it can get depressing to know too much about what a crap state the world is in but it always leaves me hopeful.
Brilliant poem, really captures something vital, partly about getting older and becoming jaded, but also about growing more distant from the need to protest, a sign of our relative affluence and lack of something in our lives that makes us angry. Not a personal comment about your life, just a reflection about living in general.
sorry for the waffle
thanks for sharing
cfm

Peter Goulding said...

Hi Weaver, I wonder if the fact that nothing changed is the important one? The fact that you raged at all is what's important!

Batteson.Ind said...

marvellous stuff... I was angry for about two years when I was in my late teens.. I stomped about a bit and sulked.. then quickly got bored...
This was a great poem and tells it like it is... sadly :-)

Pure Fiction said...

I really like the way you've tracked the whole trajectory of your protest to non-protest years - and to have stood up and protested against something at all is admirable, whether you did it twenty years ago or yesterday.
I hope your back improves soon - there's nothing worse.

swiss said...

had that very conversation only yesterday. great ending!

Niamh B said...

Like alot of people, I found the ending heartbreaking, but honest. An excellent poem.

BT said...

That's so true Weaver, so true. A lovely poem I can truly relate to. I'm sorry about your back. I've had a bad shoulder and Jim a bad back - another thing that comes with age, not decreases!

Cloudia said...

We have grown wise in time; but thank God the wisdom of the young is still to fight for all of us.

Sets up my post of tommorrow very nicely, Weaver. Thanks! (And do visit if you can.)

Hope that dear "Sister Back" calms down too.

Aloha from Hawaii my Friend!


Comfort Spiral

Argent said...

I thought this poem was beautifully crafted, not sure what tweaks are needed. The ending is one I can relate to,definitely.

Karen said...

Well, I have to say, Weaver, that I don't find the last line so bleak. Maybe it's because I've never been able to muster rage at all - just lived with despair all the way, and I've pitied those who get themselves in a twist over things I know are futile. I often thought I was born old and should at least (in the interest of fairness) be able to age in reverse. Maybe you and I can meet in the middle?

Midlife Roadtripper said...

"no more rage
just despair."

Most interesting ending. So hope your back gets better - soon!

NanU said...

wonderful Weaver. The end is heartbreaking, but I think we should not despair. Our protests may have little effect that is direct and visible, but I think they are not ignored; they become part of the fabric of our society and we would be much, much worse off if we just let things go on without a word or a banner or a good march downtown.

Pilgrim Poet said...

long time no see -great poetry !

Rinkly Rimes said...

A very telling poem but don't despair!

Anonymous said...

As a poem I'm with Rachel. As a statement from a spirited...well, post-fifty-ite, I'm a little disappointed. In one form or another, I did all the things you did. Had I not and had you not, the consciousness and the conscience of the world might be in very different shape today. And I remember as a passionate teenager, lost inside a huge duffel coat somewhere near Aldermaston, being mightily impressed by seeing couples every bit as old as my grandparents struggling with banners in the wind. La lotta continua...

PS I hope the back's improving, Pat.

rallentanda said...

I was always militant.Now I'm positively ferocious.The world should be ruled by post menopausal
medication free women!

Nishant said...

A brilliant poem, your last line was a surprise, I didn't expect it to be so bleak. Hope you are feeling better
home jobs india

the wild magnolia said...

Permission to share this on my blog, please.

the wild magnolia said...

I was so exicited with the truth and humor of your poem, I forgot to comment on your blog.

BTW beautiful photographs and wow at the words...the poetry and your thoughts.

I'm enjoying my visit.