Beware of this - it is no siren’s call
but just a sorry chance for me to fall:
I see that there’s no comfort in complaint
no cozy nest of fellow mopers moaning
where if I’m hurt, or troubled, or in pain
I might find solace. For they vie in groaning
Each tries to top the others’ doleful story.
No sympathy. At best a doubtful glory.
So just because I hear somebody grumble
in mournful bid to gain my ready ear
In trying the same tactic I will stumble
and swirl on down in egocentric tears
It’s only upward looking that I gain release
Not in pity, but in elemental peace.
©Wendy Mulhern
May 5, 2011
As might be surmised, I had a tough day today. Homework for a course I’m taking was unclear, and I ran into a technology glitch, and the course’s instructor responded, cursorily and supremely unhelpfully, to only one of my three emails asking for help and clarification. I found myself less patient than usual with other people’s complaints. But in the end I realized that I was gaining nothing by taking it out on them.
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