Extending Wall

Many truths are rendered false
Through experience’s guilt;
Giants of past are also dwarfed
Like sandcastles I built.

Pastures green of yesterday
Taste sweet forevermore;
Waters now my thirst allay
Out the sea they’ll pour.

Every halo shines quite bright
In every wearer’s eyes;
Flattery is never trite
In keeping solid ties.

“Good fences make good neighbors,”
A famous poet said.
Good friendships use good favours—
Some new lessons I dread.

 

Colin Lee

colin-lee-small

A little “Frosty” conclusion after a well-to-do ex-colleague’s for-effect visit and a quite overpriced high school reunion dinner for what it’s worth.

Photo Courtesy: imgix.net

47 thoughts on “Extending Wall”

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    1. Thanks, Jilly. When I titter over irritation, rage over grief, and harbour qualms about joy, I find the reframing of emotions quite self-healing/moderating, often unleashing the best lines from my hands to write themselves. Simple forms and rhymes in these cases embolden my creativity like walling off of poetic spaces, wherein I can throw paint onto the plaster like a mad artist. I think that’s how I delivered some of these punchy words with a clean exterior. Still very much experimenting (and learning). I must say I owe this recent boost of confidence to you, Jane, Charley, Imelda and the many wonderful hosts and friends in dVerse. As there can’t be good poetry without passion and confidence, so, really, thank you, my friend!

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  2. I read this poem over and over and am amazed. Before I read your explanatory blurb, I thought, “This is a meeting of old friends (or lovers) that didn’t live up to anyone’s expectations.” You never said that anywhere in the poem… hinted at it only in the green pastures… but it bubbled up to the surface of my consciousness as I read. Masterfully done!

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    1. A generous word from you, Charley. Thank you also for peppering me with so much “love” today — hope you were fairly entertained by my comical rhymes. I’m still in the transition between young adulthood and middle age, learning to accept the changes in life and its many disappointments as they are (whilst not forgetting my own need for grace from others). I always enjoy your comments — the more the merrier. Thank you for keeping me (virtually) companied at a time I actually quite needed it. 🙂

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      1. Okay… I am in adulthood (which end of it I won’t own up to). I figure I have about ten years before people start pointing me to the retirement portal. Here’s what I have learned so far. Every is blind alley is an invitation to revise travel plans and start off in a new direction. Parenthood is a mixed blessing/curse. Not because of the kids… the kids are usually wonderful… but the caution we develop because we have kids — it keeps us from attempting great, awesome, and foolhardy things. And finally, a partner in life who believes in you no matter what is the most valuable treasure on this planet. Now I’ll shut up for awhile.

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      2. Sagacious advice. I truly appreciate this from you, Charley. I suppose, like most aspects of life, it’s down to the wisdom of finding that balance. Anyway, we’ll see after baby #3 has arrived. Lol

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  3. I love the sound and the beautiful words in your poem. I read your poem several times, to enjoy the sound and rhythm. Each time I read, I sensed that disappointed tone – for lack of a more descriptive word. Something beautiful was somehow ruined or did not prove true in the end. When I read the last two stanzas, I recalled certain so-called friendships which really was more like business/social partnerships.

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    1. Thanks, Imelda. Hate to admit … the weekend was quite a disappointment. But, of course, no one should be blamed. These are stages to go through in life for everyone, I suppose. Glad you enjoyed my poem and I appreciate your friendly support. 🙂

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      1. … from someone whose milestone homecoming is getting close, I can understand the sentiment. I am quite glad to be not attending the homecoming – people have somehow changed since the time they graduated from college.

        Ah, it is good to have people to bounce ideas with even if virtually. 🙂 Thanks as well.

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    1. Well, it could be a perspective or a mere interjection of the moment. After the reunion, it did get a bit depressing to think to myself, “Heck, I won’t even remember their names in another ten years.”

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  9. I can relate to your opening verse. I think as we grow up and, hopefully, grow wiser we see things…and people, in a different light. Those we may have looked up to now we only see hollowness. Great line about the halo…and loved that last line too!
    Gayle ~

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    1. Thank you, Gayle. Truly the sort of stumbles I dread in taking these baby steps towards maturity — that seeing in a different light — with a little give here, a little take there, amidst the ebbs and flows, dabble myself in the moment. C’est la vie. 🙂

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    1. A pack of strangers from another lifetime who’re uninterested in knowing each other. So much for the social exchange theory. Oh, well. Anyway, thanks, Ms Bev! 🙂

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    1. I agree … thus the nod to Frost. Though the re-drawing of lines and the process of letting go seem a bit disappointing when it happened. Well, I’ll get over it. We all do. People are people. Thank you for dropping by!

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  15. You have a real knack for putting emotions into words without actually saying “this is the emotion I am feeling.” You show, rather than tell, the mark of a generous writer. Sorry you had a weekend full of petty people. Forget about them. Compare yourself only to yourself!

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    1. Thank you! The last weekend was awful; I got compensated nevertheless in this past weekend. Thank you also for your very kind compliment. That made me think … Which one is harder to tell — the perspectives taken in through emotional lenses or the abstract and complex state of mind? I may tell you the name of an emotion without being acquainted to it, as much as, on the flip side, when I ford knee-deep across an emotion, everything except my experience in it becomes secondary, doesn’t it? 😉

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  16. Read again after reading your explanation. Have never been back to a high school reunion but have learned the fate of many in my class. I especially related to these lines:
    “Giants of past are also dwarfed
    Like sandcastles I built.”
    Those who were “heroes”, the prom queens, the popular ones….we built them up when they strutted around us. Like the most magnificent sandcastles we could muster on our summer beach days. And then with time, when the waves and time have had their way, we revisit and are surprised to see what has survived.
    Well done. And food for thought.

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    1. I’m deeply amazed how precisely you read my thoughts in those 10 words. The waves and time did have their way and will continue to have it. Treasure the moment, I suppose? Thank you for taking the time to read and re-read the poem and for this thoughtful comment, Lillian. 🙂

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