Blue in the face
Blue in the face
by Ivan Jenson
Eventually we all
grow tired of being
the very best we can be
and instead settle
for simply showing up
and delivering good
instead of great
and then sometimes
we surprise ourselves
and exceed our reach
and wind up grabbing
and holding onto the attention
of those in attendance
with our cantor like candor
and instead of simply
speaking we find
we are almost singing
and instead of walking
we seem to levitate
and we radiate more
energy than a leaking
nuke plant
and our toxic truth
gets all over everybody
and they begin to glow
and we become so
afraid of our own power
that we shut ourselves down
before we blow the lid
off the joint
and then we go
back to the green room
camouflage of
our futile fatigue
and chalk it all
up as a fluke
I hear that! Been going thru something of this since last winter like I don’t wanna show up to work and just do the mundane sheep clock-in clock-out zombie-a-thon and have been setting new speed records etc. becoming a golden god of sorts in my own mind. But the hubris finally caught up with me. It all started as chips on the shoulder being low man on the totem pole, being on the B shift, and getting the ‘leftovers’ from other slower workers. Things like that can make you hungry but will also eat you up from the inside. Handling power is a difficult challenge. Thx for sharing!
Have you been reading my LiveJournal complaints?!
Jest aside, sometimes you have to show up, and sometimes you end up radiating power because you show up and play.
Good to hear from you! It’s been a while. I think you’re right–just showing up and playing (doing what needs to be done) in a practical level-headed way is inspiring. So many time we get too dramatic and hyperbolic.
Yeah, you can really shock yourself (and others) sometimes, so much that it scares you. But shutting down, you secretly wish you could keep up that same level. Yet you can come back and write a poem about it. Great nuclear reactor imagery!