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Verse Is Where You Find It
Written November 20, 2002

 

Background:  Here are two paragraphs about the folly of excessive griping that were written by other people.

Both were originally prose.  However, like poetry, they express profound ideas concisely.  Therefore, I decided to cut and polish and mount these little gems so that their words, their facets, could be more easily appreciated.  I broke them into lines of "verse," repunctuated them, and added titles — and now I share them with you.


One comes from a November 17, 2002, posting on an Internet bulletin board, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette "TV Forum," where a hot topic lately has been the case of a local news anchor.  Although she assaulted a former co-worker, she was given only a slap-on-the-wrist sentence and is now back on the air.  Some of the comments have shown a continuing anger over this anchor.

LET IT GO
by "Bananarama"

This is the first time that I've seen
   such a public demonstration of
   such a personal phenomenon —
the corrosiveness
of holding tight
to hatred.

The target of the hatred
   is totally unaffected,
but the haters
   become obsessed
   and bitter.

Much of life isn't fair.
Sometimes we need
   to swallow injustice
and move on
   to better days.

This topic has devolved
   into
      incoherent
         rage.
Enough already.

 

The other is a "vanity card" from the Dharma & Greg television series.  These screens of black-on-white text appeared for about one second just before the closing credits; the only way to read them was to videotape the credits and then freeze the playback.  This particular card is #105.  It comes from the next-to-last episode, which aired April 23, 2002.

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE
by Chuck Lorre

It seems to me
   (in brief moments of clarity)
that the only way to proceed

is with a tub of popcorn,
a good seat,
and a willingness to be
   surprised,
   delighted,
   horrified,
   amused,
   and/or
   bored
as I watch the play unfold —

while simultaneously being grateful
   for having been given
      a bit part.

The upside to this way of thinking
is increased compassion
   for the other bit players,
a sense of perspective
   as to one's true size,
and a release
   from suffering.

The downside, as previously stated,
is the way of thinking
   is brief,
and I spend
   most of my time
   complaining bitterly
that the popcorn does not have the real butter flavoring.

 

TBT

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