Users Who Spiked
INVITING CHAOS
Private Notes
Private Notes
Notes
Inviting Chaos
Age 17, Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, 1962
-- This is one poem, in an autobiographical series of poems, I posted here at WriteSpike. Go to my stories section for others. They are in chronological order. --
Note about the pictures for this poem: The title images are microscopic photographs of snow crystals (snowflakes) taken by WA Bentley around 1900 in black and white and then colorized by Rick Doble. Through years of work, Bentley discovered that every snowflake is different.
That Sunday the minister
unleashed unknown forces
forces that still affect me today
at the church service
required by the school
the man I knew well as a teacher
usually talked in the abstract
about choices and decisions
but in this sermon
he told a personal story
he was in his twenties and
thinking about getting married
as so many of his friends were doing
so he made a mental list of the women he knew
of the qualities he wanted
and began to look around -
when out of nowhere
he met a woman unlike any he had ever known
who soon became his wife
it was like a revelation
it was his metaphor for life
and for faith
you work hard at finding an answer
then - if you are receptive -
the answer may appear
at unexpected times
in unexpected ways
more being moved than moving
more being given than taking
more accepting than demanding
it opened a new pathway
where ideas and feelings
could come to me
like a voice in the wilderness
Comments
Please login to post comments on this story
-
I literally met my husband on a street corner one night when we both thought our lives were ending. So I always relate to this idea that what you need comes when you least expect it in the exact opposite of the form you thought you wanted. Anyways, I love poems that give you a small slice of life that are relatable lessons. Thanks for sharing.
-
you work hard at finding an answer then - if you are receptive - the answer may appear at unexpected times in unexpected ways
I love this part. Think about this all the time. I believe if you really internalize this, amazing things can happen. Thanks for sharing! -
more being moved than moving more being given than taking more accepting than demandingit opened a new pathway where ideas and feelings could come to me like a voice in the wilderness
Beautifully written! I love that feeling when someone says something that speaks to your soul and changes your perception in a positive way.-
WOW! Thanks, I can't think of a higher compliment. To change another person's perceptions is the goal of many artists.
-
And that is also how I met my wife -- and we have been together 30 years.