A Question of Perspective:

Pain:
A screech and a crash and the steam-hiss of gears.
The ache and the anguish of lost-lonely fears.
Effluvious sludge in a runoff of years.
A Lifetime of learning; a Lifetime of tears.

Pleasure:
I shift when I can to more boisterous gears.
The carefree non-plan of 9 lives and 3 cheers.
Oblivious moments, ignoring the years.
Just living the life as my life disappears.

Power:
The confident roar of prevailing high gears.
My goal, to control the chief puppeteers.
A certainty sown in the youth of my years.
A Lifetime discerning where best to hide fears.

Poetry:
A swaying sensation of jazzy-smooth gears.
A sacred creation connecting the spheres.
With rhythm and grace I will dance through my years.
A Life of compassion; a Life full of tears.

Pretense:
The gnashing of teeth; the grinding of gears.
The mind-numbing weight of self-conscious fears.
Convinced of my wisdom beyond my few years.
I gush and I spout and I talk off some ears.

Quiescence:
I'm playing it safe by not switching gears.
No worries, no questions, and no new frontiers.
Complacently passing the days and the years.
A Lifetime of yearning for meaningful tears.

Passion:
A laugh and a smile to lubricate gears.
The warmth of a friend when doubt leads to fears.
Harmonious fire that burns through the years.
A Lifetime of questions; a Lifetime of tears.

Ponder and Quarrel:
It is a question of perspective. And I really should allow these perspectives to stand alone and speak for themselves. But with the hubris inherent to and necessary for pretense, I feel compelled to pursue further analysis and commentary; (though I can argue that this pretense is in actuality passion, since I have no reason to believe that my weekly written thought will ever be anything but that).

These perspectives quite clearly overlap, but I believe at any given period (and/or in any given compartment) in one's Life there will be one or two that predominate. For example, in this past decade, I have been shot-put between pain, poetry, and passion, with occasional (probably more frequent than I want to remember) forays into pretense. Passion pulls me from pain, but I have found that runaway passion may manifest as discordant anger. In poetry I find some energizing peace. Poetry is inquisitive spirituality without religion. The effort toward poetry must be conscious and intentional, and the ever-evolving result of poetry should be esoterically transcendental and ineffable.

I would argue that a Lifetime of pain and passion and poetry is preferable to a preponderance of other perspective combinations or any one single perspective. Perhaps I make this claim because I feel it is this combination of perspectives that has guided me as an individual these last few years. Or perhaps I make this claim based on perceived learning and growth in this past decade. There are many days I work very hard at increasing levels of poetry and passion to numb the pain, while at the same time not succumbing to the siren songs of quiescence and/or pretense. It has been many years since I have experienced a perspective of power at levels previously perceived; though I see now that much of what I felt then was an illusion.

Unlike poetry (which one must seek consciously and intentionally) pain is often thrust upon us. Some may argue this, and (to some extent) rightfully so; but those that do argue against the impact of circumstance are often those who are comparatively pain-free. Circumstance can influence all perspectives, but the individual still must take ultimate responsibility by pushing back into unfortunate circumstance, and by seeking other perspectives.

I must also argue that of all the perspectives, quiescence should be the least desirable as it limits potential for learning and growth moreso than any other - (including pleasure from which, by being active, one may learn from mistakes and/or by osmosis). Yet quiescence is the easiest and (too) often the most comfortable. To maintain the passive comfort of "no worries, no questions, and no new frontiers" the perspective of quiescence leaves a void; a sense of loss seldom acknowledged, but nonetheless felt. This "yearning for meaningful tears" inherent in quiescence becomes manifest in many different ways including unquestioning conformity to a cause or belief, political correctness, overstated outrage, drama, crocodile tears, an unnatural desire for and attachment to 'stuff', narcissism, an ignorance of or apathy for visible reality, an inability to see past or escape bureaucracy and other political inventions, and the inability to express oneself beyond simple and/or predictable platitudes. Because one mired in quiescence feels a need for meaning and seeks to fill that need they will learn to fabricate a depth of meaning from an otherwise superficial source; a source often presented as meaningful by another individual or group operating from a perspective of power or pretense.

I believe every individual to have some natural inclination to each perspective presented. I believe some natural inclinations to be stronger than others, varying in degree according to the individual. I believe circumstance can push one toward or away from a perspective. And I believe that by being aware of this question of perspective one can consciously choose to work at a Lifetime to their liking.