Let's list'n to some...

ADVICE

Ella Wheeler Cox



I MUST do as you do? Your way I own
Is a very good way, and still,
There are sometimes two straight roads to a town,
One over, one under the hill.
You are treading the safe and the well-worn way,
That the prudent choose each time;
And you think me reckless and rash to-day
Because I prefer to climb.

Your path is the right one, and so is mine.
We are not like peas in a pod,
Compelled to lie in a certain line,
Or else be scattered abroad.

'T were a dull old world, me thinks, my friend,
If we all just went one way;
Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end,
Though they lead apart today.

You like the shade, and I like the sun;
You like an even pace,
I like to mix with the crowd and run,
And then rest after the race.

I like danger, and storm, and strife,
You like a peaceful time;
I like the passion and surge of life,
You like its gentle rhyme.

You like buttercups, dewy sweet,
And crocuses, framed in snow;
I like roses, born of the heat,
And the red carnation's glow.

I must live my life, not yours, my friend,
For so it was written down;
We must follow our given paths to the end,
But I trust we shall meet--in town.

DESIDERATA breaks tradition today by seeking solace -- and guidance -- in poetry. Normally such adventures are for the weekend, but there's always an exception.
I do that often, conversing with Miss Poetry -- in solitude.
I may e'en speak aloud alone -- and pasersby think me queer; but why do I care?

Today I go public -- because lately I have been getting a lot of negative vibrations.
When one mixes too much with negative people who whine and sigh,
It weighs you down, and your spirit can do less with that proverbial frown.

Why do you bother to write about civil society?
People don't give a damn. It's every man for himself.
(Man: can stand for anybody and has no gender connotation -- I don't care
if some bra-less feminists want to flame me; I have better advice to follow.)

Why do you want to stick your neck out voicing the common man's woes?
Because if I don't care for my brothers, my sisters won't care for me either.

Do you earn money for your writing?
I don't yearn for money when I write.
But believe me, sometimes Miracles Happen.
I've been getting Pennies From Heaven because of my writes.
And my heart gets lifted when someone who's touched says she enjoys my writes.
Yes, when you lift up your brother and sister,
You raise yourself onto a higher plane
And you touch the sky where birds fly
You touch Freedom
And many voices speak to you
And you touch Friendship
And sometimes a lonesome stranger seeks your company
And you touch Harmony
If you're lucky you hear your (late) Mother's voice
And you touch Peace and Tranquility

But most important of all
You hear your Inner Voice
And you touch Yourself.

~~ Desi's inspired composition which started at 12.02AM, ended now at 12.24AM
Thursday, when a child born today has "far to go".
Maybe I'm that Childe.