Thursday, October 4, 2018

going on six, and will




the burden of the will

I feel the heavy weight,
the burden he carries,
he sees how the world needs to be,
for he wants it to be that way,
and only if it’s the way he wants is the world right,

the toys must be just so,
and the “just so” changes every moment
as the creator in him manifests,
his parents must be there for him
just the way he feels they should be,
for what he wants is how it should be,
a video game: joy when it goes well,
indignation when it doesn’t,
a call for a science museum trip,
and today he loses the discussion,
though he revisits his desire time after time for hours,
anger at his father for multi-tasking,
talking to us while playing with him,
a physical expression of his anger close to his surface,

it is hard to understand the world as another sees it,
to realize the world can be seen 
as differently shaped from how you see it,
and then to walk forward
in a constant balancing act
between assertiveness and responsiveness,

the will seeks a way to use us as tool,
the challenge is to find a way
that is the best compromise for all
to gain the most and lose the least,
for will to be the tool and not the master.

by Henry H. Walker
September 29, ‘18

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