There must be a way

🙁

wow that is awful Giselle Minoli but I was impresssed at how poetic you are! you came up with that off the top of your head!   Michael O’Reilly hope so too

Wow. speechless

agreed Tanya Grala she could sell a book of poetry glad we cheered you up I am sure next week will be better than the last

You’re kind Tanya Grala and steph wanamaker. However, this is after a serious bout of crankiness has worn off. Honest.

Oh dear Michael O’Reilly. I fear I would then have to be rescued from a serious depression after writing that…which doesn’t mean I don’t have it in me somewhere. For some reason you remind ME of a a book of poetry I once read by the poet Ai, called Cruelty.

For you, Giselle Minoli, I offer my first free-hand poetry:

It is by loss we grow,

To acknowledge what was had and is now gone.

What, we should ask, was the importance? The possessions or the privacy?

Have we helped feed a need by the desperate whose morals have been compromised by the vicissitudes of life or those of character who lack any avenues of relief.

Loss is loss; violation is violation. What remains is compassion.

What we want and what we need are often diametrically opposed.

Do we need what has been taken?

The world, and life, allows us what we need. It is we who place value.

Rick Turner I know all too well that this person’s life is far worse than mine. That person’s life is surrounded by its own bubble of free-association, thoughts, circumstances, realities, non-realities. The deed itself is similarly surrounded by a bubble of changing reactions and realities. The reaction to the deed is also surrounded by its own atmosphere. They all co-exist at the same time.

That said, I won’t pretend, because it wouldn’t be true, that my car and possessions don’t have value. They do. I also won’t pretend that simply because someone else’s life is so much worse than mine, that it is okay for events like this to occur. It is not. There is, generally, I think, much pretending when things like this happen. Yes, there is the awareness that it could have been much, much worse and thankfully wasn’t.  But we humans have a way of pushing aside our feelings and reactions to things out of shame or guilt or confusion. I don’t think that helps clarity. And I’m not suggesting this is what you mean, Rick. I just don’t like denial. Either of my own experience of it…or acknowledging what must be going on in that person’s life. They both have equal weight in my view.

Jack C Crawford dreaming of sex and wine is always good (IMHO)…

Again, Giselle Minoli my conscience is screaming at me for what I hope you did not think a callous response. I struggle each day weighing compassion versus condemnation.

Kena Herod I honestly don’t believe (I’m speaking from my heart here) that there really is any such thing as non attachment. I think it is one of the things that people fake and lie (to themselves) about the most. How many world famous spiritual leaders have we seen fall from grace (many in the Yoga world) because they do not practice what they preach, or walk their talk? Too many to count, that’s for sure.

Someone else might say that ring doesn’t matter, or those shoes don’t matter. I would disagree. I would say the memories of your relationship with your father matter and that the ring gave birth to them. I would say, also, that the new shoes matter, yet in a quite different way – the making of them provided work and income for a variety of people.

Honestly, if any of us were to really practice non attachment, none of us would own anything, and then where would the world’s economy be?

Shoes are replaceable. So are car windows. The ring? I think it smarts. The violation(s)? I think it/they smart(s). If someone to whom this sort of thing has happened were to say they felt nothing and it didn’t matter, I would be quite suspicious.

One does not have to assume that a thief’s life is in some way worse than yours. However, their values certainly are. Sometimes thieves look like a guy in a hoodie breaking windows or they look like Bernie Madoff. In either case it is greed driving the action. Sorry for the disruption and violation of your peace by this criminal.

I am so relieved Giselle Minoli you did not take my response negatively. I truly value what you present here. Truly.

I myself have been a victim of violent crime and understand just how it feels. The loss of self, the loss of being.

And as for being “fairly intelligent” – such nonsense! As they say here in America, get that? Your intelligence is evident in every post.

And not to sound selfish, but how was my poetry? Feel free to be brutal.

I believe there is ALWAYS a choice between doing good and doing evil. Circumstances are merely an excuse. Certainly people act rashly or out of a feeling of desperation but it is still wrong and driven by abandoning what you know is right or wrong…that “spiritual poverty” you spoke of.

Only you, Giselle Minoli , can turn such an unwanted experience into a source of reflection and something positive. Mobile only, and iffy at that, forces brevity 😉

It’s a combination of things Susanne Ramharter and Mara Rose – my disappointment at missing the conference, to which I had been looking forward because it was all about writing, the weird serendipity of it being our anniversary, the strangeness of it happening to both of us at the same time, the reminder that nothing is ever as we hope/think/want/wish it to be, the reality that emotions swiftly change while the clock ticks…and the fact that I was there, after all, for a writers conference. Writing is all about observing life. If we don’t do that, if we don’t notice that, we have nothing to put on the page. 

For what it’s worth Susanne Ramharter I will take your brevity in any given brief moment. 😉

Rick Turner I do not have the right to critique anyone’s poetry, for I am not a poet. I love that you responded in that generous, heartfelt and in-kind manner. Translation: I love it.

I mean not to to derail this post, but I just came back from an afternoon play (“Youtopia”) I attended with my theatre critic friend in Toronto (we go to another play this evening!). Anyway, I couldn’t help think about Giselle’s points about attachment to material things. This play I saw had one of the most amazing sets I’ve ever seen especially in a small space. When it was over, my critic friend took the words that were about to come out of mouth and said, “What a set!” Indeed, we both hope it will get nominated for prizes. All is to say it got me thinking about material objects, whether they are our own personally or are cultural treasures that are  damaged, vandalized or stolen. It hurts a lot of folks in the end. Again, Giselle, so sorry for your losses.

Bill Collins I am a neat freak. Broken glass and neat freaks are not the best of friends. I have something to learn about “desperation.”

Gawd Sheri ONeill I almost think your heart pounding story is worse than what happened to us. You were anticipating something, the adrenaline being released with each step, each smashed light building upon one another, so many people affected. Off you were to the ballet and inside the theatre it was all music and movement and beauty and poetry. Outside all darkness and anger and bitterness. Hate is indeed so very close to anger. Thank you for your sweet thoughts.

Timothy Doyle Your use of the word “lame” was unkind, as well as inaccurate. My words, carefully chosen, include the possibility of other motivations (it’s not my job to include every single possibility), so, clearly, I am aware that there are multitudes of motivations. Perhaps you missed that wording?

However, the officer who did the police report echoes the opinion of William P. Basically, he took one look at my car and my husband’s car and said, “I’ve been doing this a long time and I see this every day. This was a crack hit. Quick in and out. It’s not personal. They are looking for anything they can sell to make a quick buck. Hotel guests are often hit because they travel with devices and often leave them in their cars.”

And he went out of his way to make the distinction between this kind of vandalism and that which Lance Hagood described (Hi, Lance), which is simply anger and destruction-induced. In which case they are not looking for anything to sell…they are looking definitely to hurt the owner of the car. For what it’s worth to you, Timothy.

Lance…I like the last three lines of your comment. They could in themselves the last (or first) three lines of your own poem!

Sometimes I think the world would be a better place Lance Hagood if everyone spoke in some sort of poetry…I don’t care whether it rhymes or not. Maybe we could have a national Speak in Verse Day.