Yesterday is fixed, though perceptions of it change,
What's done is done, and consequences set;
To live preserved in amber in that past time would be strange;
I won't declare my game is ended yet.
Tommorow can surprise me; tomorrow can inspire;
Tomorrow can be anything at all.
Tomorrow can redeem me, make me over, light my fire,
No matter how destructive this day's fall.
While there is tomorrow, or the prospect of tomorrow,
All today's dark sturm and drang won't seem so dire;
With the promise of adventure, or an end to some great sorrow,
Or a chance to rest and smell the roses, tomorrow will inspire.
What is yesterday's weak offer but memory's dim coffer,
Dusty tragedies and triumphs with their juices firmly wrung,
Some are pleasant, I admit, but I wouldn't want to sit
In the fading echoes lingering from songs aready sung.
Give me boundless fields of wonder, give me passion, give me hope,
Take the tantalising glimpses from today and give them scope,
Give me unexpected pleasures, give me undiscovered treasures,
I might hang myself, but don't withhold that rope;
Good as today may be, joys as I may have in memory,
I prefer to have tomorrow, my unknown, ripe with hope.
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3 comments:
From Rick,
Whoa! Jenny that is pure poetry, you withholding little devil. I think we need these philosophical prompts more often. Encore! I will reread this many times to get all the juice out of it. Thanks.
What an accomplishment, Jenny! Beautiful images, wonderfully-captured reflection, powerful and evocative words. A character develops in your poem who is full-on, drinks deeply of life, unafraid. And full of joy.
Though this isn’t a sonnet, one thing I remember about them is that a mood is set and then subtly changed part way through. Perhaps if you painted a solid picture of yesterday, setting that mood of struggle and “fading echoes”, and then shifted to tomorrow, with its mood of “boundless fields of wonder”, it might have more impact.
Beautiful Jenny. I can't imagine anyone just sitting down and writing that off the top of their heads (which I know you did at the Sat Scriveners). It's a very inspiring piece, in particular I loved the last couple of sets "What is yesterday's weak offer" which really sums up living in the past. Then the last set is just beautiful. Well done.
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