A precarious thing, just a little more
here, a little less there, and it is no more.
The scales of justices is felt by the blind
measure of truth, which is carefully weighed
yet a little more or less here and there, and
justice is lost to the truth.
The earth, the moon, the sun in rhythm
keeps us in this precarious place where
life thrives as the seas and land
in concert with our spin keeps the
whole thing on the tip of a pin until
a little more or less here or there
brings the world crashing down.
Toddlers learn the precariousness of
gravity and motion instinctively, and
will eventually challenge it in a blind
spin, with a donkey’s tail or pinata stick,
and once again, will learn of its delicate
nature in future days of later times,
when dependence on much more
is the reward of long life.
And we all will undoubtedly find
the precariousness of her fickle nature
in the balancing of our anxieties, hopes
and dreams, our successes and our failures
we will need the help of others here and there,
to maintain life’s momentum and balance,
for without such we fail into nothingness.
Dear Michael,
RE: Balance
And the physical ‘balance’ we hope to maintain as our hearts slow down, our bones stiffen and our reflexes aren’t up to par.
Yes, ‘balance’ is required all of our lives in so many ways from our youthful days of play to our older days of putting one foot in front of the other.
Your poem brought these additional thoughts to me.
Mike, thank you for this. I have found that as life becomes a struggle, we lose sight of balance. With our head down and our shoulder firmly planted up against the millstone that we are once more pushing up that damn hill, we see only the small patch of ground beneath us as we place one foot in front of the other, focused only on the task at hand. It is good to be reminded that balance is the key to living a healthier life, a better life.
Also, I really enjoyed the imagery of the child, through the act of finding balance, also finding their way through life. Very Buddhist in it’s a viewpoint I think.