By the time I’d reached age 28, when I wrote this poem, I had come quite a distance in my sense of how I valued other people’s ideas. I had many individuals I respected deeply, but at the same time, an ever-expanding list of those who had given me counsel that I did not trust, believe nor identify with. And based on my growing list of personal achievements, I was coming to a place where I felt I could sort out these differences pretty effectively for myself, and maybe also provide some signposts for others. This is something I’m proud to have written 19-plus years ago.
by Roger Darnell
person in whom you’d somehow confided
life secrets, cherished dreams, noble virtues,
embarrassing realities,
you then will have fallen victim to hope —
otherwise you never would have ventured there —
and many people (far too many) don’t hold-up
very well when their opportunity arises
to chip-in to the world’s lode of hope.
Knowledge itself, in the popular sense,
seems to be rooted in the understanding that
nothing is forever, especially for people.
Most people can’t pass-up the chance to
tarnish others’ dreams. If this seems bitter
or incorrect to you, you’re extremely lucky
and you have the world bare before you —
moreso than the majority of the world,
where stray bits of “conventional wisdom”
rob lives of the wonder and exciting unraveling
miracles that existence truly holds in store.
If it is up to you to shape a future, do so
in the noblest sense, with the proper attention
applied to the positive prospect to have
something to be proud of, should it ring true!
(Copyright 2013 Roger Darnell, All Rights Reserved.)
