Sunday, January 22, 2017

optimism, and pessimism



how to view the dice thrown

I don’t “play” the lottery, the slots,
poker, craps, whatever way comes up
to divest me of my money
in the pursuit of the chimera
of “beating the house,”

yet every moment alive is full of chance and probability,

I argue that I don’t need a roller-coaster
since the iffy thrill that every day throws at us
is exciting enough for me,

in the middle of a tossing and turning night,
reality doesn’t change:
the dice thrown for me,
and the dice thrown against me,
stay the same,
yet how positive or negative I feel about them
can vary with each imagined throw,

most of my days I am an optimist,
often is the night when I wake up
as a pessimist for awhile,
I then often feel myself afraid,

some time later the dice don’t change,
but the optimist within me rises anew,
I choose hope,
and I hope the universe will agree with me.

by Henry H. Walker

January 20, ‘17

No comments: