It’s funny how the last episode of “The Blacklist” got me to reading a ton of poetry over the weekend.
On today’s Chalkboard I pulled a quote from the T.S. Eliot poem “Wait Without Hope.” When I first read and analyzed this poem in the great classrooms of an Indianapolis high school I was told to look at it from an opposite perspective.
“Oh, I hope this happens!”
“Oh, I hope that happens!”
“Oh, I hope I win the lottery!”
We’ve always been told to never trust someone that tells you to trust them. This is true and in the same context never trust someone who is selling you hope.
Don’t confuse hope with Faith (and I always capitalize that “F” word). If all you are doing is hoping for things to change, hoping for things to improve, hoping it doesn’t rain on the day of your big party….
… you are just putting yourself in a vulnerable position that only leads to disappointment, failure and frustration.
If the world seems dark, turn on a light. If life seems boring, make it exciting. If nobody is on the dance floor, get your ass out there and move your body and glide like a 747.
What did I do this weekend?
I heard on Saturday, “These ribs are good dad… do we have anymore?”
On Sunday, “This salmon is tasty… do you have anymore?”
On both Saturday and Sunday, “you’re reading more poetry, how can you read that stuff?”
If I did anything productive, I showed George that I make great fucking ribs, delicious salmon and I like reading poetry. The seed has been planted.
This weekend I was reminded to rage against death and to see things from a different perspective.
Happy Monday Chalkheads!
It is July 17th and two weeks from today is the last day of July.
I listened to the breeze through the leaves yesterday. They are beginning to blow with the starch of summer. They are losing the softness of spring. They are saying it is time to attack the summer with gusto because Labor Day is less than fifty days away.
Keep an eye on your shadow. It is walking further away from you…
