Poem: "Attainable Goals"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is today's freebie for the Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from curiosity. It also fills the "Set Attainable Goals" square in my 5-2-15 card for the Wellness Toolbox Bingo. This poem belongs to the series Walking the Beat.


"Attainable Goals"


When Dale's car broke down,
she took it to Good Neighbors Garage
and was assured that it would be
back on the street within a few hours.

She meant to walk down the block for lunch,
but then she spied Juste sitting on the steps,
his hands dangling limply between his knees.

"Hey," she said quietly. "You look kind of low."

"I suck at being good," he replied.
"Dad doesn't like that much."

"It's harder than it looks," Dale agreed.

Juste snorted. "What would you know."

"Oh, I was a wild thing in my teens,"
Dale said as she sat down beside him.
"It took me years to settle down."

"I just feel like ... I've got a good angel
on one shoulder and a bad angel on the other,
you know, like the song?" Juste said.

"Two Angels and a Dream," Dale said.
"So what's your dream, then?"

"I dunno," Juste said. "How did you
stop being so wild all the time?"

"I found something else to do,"
Dale said. "I tried to do one good thing
each day, and built up from there.
Eventually it crowded out the bad habits."

"Just one thing."

"Yes, it's all about setting attainable goals,"
Dale said. "If you try to change everything at once,
it's overwhelming, and you can't stick with it."

"I could maybe manage that," Juste said.

"I have faith in you," Dale said. "Besides,
if you're listening to your better angel,
you might just find that dream along the way."

"What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Because I did," Dale said.

She didn't tell Juste any more about
the long and winding road that led her
to police work, but then she didn't have to.

Restoring someone's hope was more about
inspiring good questions than giving pat answers.

* * *

Notes:

curiosity started this by requesting "Two Angels and a Dream." Read the lyrics online.

Random acts of kindness do good for the giver and receiver. Here are some you could try.

Goal setting is a vital life skill. In order to set "SMART" goals, you need to understand what makes a good goal. Sometimes it helps to have a more experienced person give you a sample that you can explore.

Comments

[curiosity]

Hee! Awesome poem. Juste's right, man. Being good is so not easy.

AWESOME!

[dialecticdreamer]

Ask better questions!!! YES

Re: AWESOME!

[ysabetwordsmith]

The best kind of help is often that which simply assists people in solving their own problems. Juste simply doesn't have a complete set of coping methods or life skills yet. So this is a step in the right direction, helping him figure out what makes him feel like a better person and what he enjoys doing. Give him a month or two and he'll probably spot something that stands out.

[lb_lee]

We actually live in Jamaica Plain now! So now this series will be even more enjoyable!

--Rogan

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

That is so awesome. I hope you-all are happy there. It sounds like a lovely neighborhood from my research. Prompts with local color -- details about parks, restaurants, other attractions, etc. -- are definitely welcome.

Re: Yay!

[lb_lee]

I unfortunately just missed this latest fishbowl, but I definitely plan to in the future!

This past weekend, we went to the Wake Up The Earth festival. Lots of fun. Definitely liking it here.

--Rogan

Re: Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I unfortunately just missed this latest fishbowl, but I definitely plan to in the future! <<

Next up will be the crowdfunding Creative Jam running May 16-17 with a theme of "hope."

>> This past weekend, we went to the Wake Up The Earth festival. Lots of fun. Definitely liking it here. <<

Yay! We caught the Earth Day celebration at our local nature center, and got 5 oak seedlings. They were dormant when I planted them but the buds are already swelling. :D The wildflowers aren't quite ready to plant, though, they were raised in a greenhouse and need more hardening off.

[elizabeth_rice]

I like the hopefulness of this poem and it's what I need to hear at this time since this year is really turning out to be the worst in recent times.

Anyway, you know I never really understood how to apply SMART to writng goals, fiction and poetry specifically. But there are other guidelines to using SMART that I also like, example one blogger suggested making 2-3 goals per week and I've learnt that it really makes things manageable.

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I like the hopefulness of this poem and it's what I need to hear at this time since this year is really turning out to be the worst in recent times. <<

I'm glad I could help.

>> Anyway, you know I never really understood how to apply SMART to writng goals, fiction and poetry specifically. But there are other guidelines to using SMART that I also like, example one blogger suggested making 2-3 goals per week and I've learnt that it really makes things manageable. <<

That method works really well for practicing concrete things. When I was in junior high, I started writing a poem every weekday and kept it up for several years. That's a big part of how I can sit down now and write a dozen or two poems in a day. Another thing you can do is decide to practice a specific technique, like present tense or unreliable narrator or a certain poetic form.

The problem is that writers are prone to thinking in terms of "I want to write better" or "I want to improve characterization" which are qualitative rather than quantitative goals.

Re: Thank you!

[elizabeth_rice]

True on the first point. And nothing beats daily practice. Writing is a lot like maths in that sense, if you don't practice daily it's harder to get back into it.

Does genre count as a technique?

Haha, you could say the same about me when I started writing fanfic. But after I started signing up for bingo cards, my goals changed and I decided I wanted to practice wrting 100-word drabbles, short stories, haiku, etc.

Re: Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Writing is a lot like maths in that sense, if you don't practice daily it's harder to get back into it. <<

For me, once I've learned a writing skill, it sticks with me. But then I have a whole coprocessor in my head for this stuff.

>> Does genre count as a technique? <<

Sure, if it's something you want to learn. "Write a fantasy story" is a measurable goal. "Write a good fantasy story," not so much.

>> Haha, you could say the same about me when I started writing fanfic. But after I started signing up for bingo cards, my goals changed and I decided I wanted to practice wrting 100-word drabbles, short stories, haiku, etc.<<

Goals can change over time, and should. Do what you want or need today.

Re: Thank you!

[elizabeth_rice]

Thank you! ♥

oh yes.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

finding the right questions is so KEY.

Goodness me. I asked the Universe for positive helpful messages in my sleep apparently. Between this and six or more posts on FB I am feeling much better about the path I am currently on.

Re: oh yes.

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> finding the right questions is so KEY. <<

Yay!

>> Goodness me. I asked the Universe for positive helpful messages in my sleep apparently. Between this and six or more posts on FB I am feeling much better about the path I am currently on. <<

:D What are your goals? What do you need to get from here to there?

Questions can definitely help.

Re: oh yes.

[labelleizzy.livejournal.com]

those are both additional, useful questions for me to ponder. One problem I had was, I was stuck in the idea that I had to follow a path that already existed. I've since had a slap to the face from the Salmon of Wisdom via multiple quotations, including the classic Emerson "go where there is no path, and make a trail" and another which suggested, if the path already exists, it can't be your path; that your path is the path you create.

lightbulb after lightbulb. I've been so stuck for so long and invalidating the life I've been creating as "not right" or "not allowed" or "not good enough." Borked. Borked and blind.

Re: oh yes.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

That's actually a good point. In the end, we're all inside our own heads, and while we might *think* we're having the same experience as another person we can never really know.

So even if you found a path that made you feel "this is *my* path" you'd probably be making it your own, in subtle ways, even if you didn't realize it.

I've found it can be useful to accept authorities on a path, to see what they know and where they take me. But in the end, I'm the only one who can manage me and my path, or know that (/guess if) it's right for me.

Re: oh yes.

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> I've found it can be useful to accept authorities on a path, to see what
they know and where they take me. But in the end, I'm the only one who
can manage me and my path, or know that (/guess if) it's right for me. <<

If I don't know anything about a field, then I'll look at the recommended path. It's usually something that works for the largest number of people, so it's worth a try. But I tend to be on the fringe of most bell curves. For most people, starting with the standard is a much more reliable method.