Poem: "That Moment When You Realize"

[ysabetwordsmith]

This poem came out of the May 15, 2018 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from heartsinger. It also fills the "second person narration" square in my 4-7-18 card for the origfic_bingo fest and the "WILD CARD: road trip" square in my 5-1-18 General card for the Pro Wrestling Bingo fest.  This poem has been sponsored by janetmiles.


"That Moment When You Realize"


You know what it's like
when people around you
ignore your needs, but

when they don't, it's
a surprise and a delight --

that moment when you
open the door of the museum
and a tidal wave of sound pours out
so that you and the person next
to you both take a step back

and it's the other person in
the party who says, "Shall
we go somewhere else?"

and so you do;

that moment when
a friend looks up from
a menu on the door,
having found nothing,

and you say,
"Let's keep walking,
there are plenty more
restaurants down the block,"

and they smile at you
like you've just hung the sun;

that moment when you realize
this is what vacations are
supposed to be like,

what they're like for
ordinary people all the time,
being able to avoid things
you don't like and find
things you do like,

and it's no big deal;

that moment when you realize
you have really nice friends
whom you're very lucky to have,
and you maybe love them more

than some people you grew up with;

it's a surprise and a delight,
it's as addictive as oxygen,

and just as essential.

Comments

[technoshaman]

I can't think of a single person I grew up with that I'm closer to than the people that occupy my world now. A goodly chunk of whom may well be reading this. The people in that small town just wouldn't get it...

Don't get me wrong. I know people from small towns whom I count as `ohana. I know Christians, Baha'i, a Muslim gent, people you might think wouldn't get it, but they do. I don't know what the difference is... but I know that there's a difference in *mindset*.... to use your word, a sensawunda... that them baccy farmers just don't have. And once your eyes are opened to that world... there's no going back. It's not about faith nor race nor the culture you were raised in nor je-ne-sais-quoi...

Et pourtant, tout le monde, c'est différent, non? Et vive le difference!!

(I don't know why I reach for French when expressing strong emotion... but I do. :)

[siliconshaman]

The word for that is mindfulness... and it's a skill that needs to be learnt as much as attitude.

[technoshaman]

And some, I wonder where they learnt it? Some I know without asking; I hear them talk of the attitudes of their mum or their da or their preacher uncle who would be considered just a wee bit heretical by the orthodoxy of the American south in which they grew up, and yet their congregation sticks by him, and would doubtless defend him fiercely if it came to that... and yet, there is the fundamentalist Christian kid who was more than happy to hang out with us heatherns; he didn't learn tolerance at home, I'm all but certain...

Sometimes it's a clue-bat over the head from the universe. I was a lot like the kid I mentioned when my best friend came out of the closet. Sometimes it's simply living in the Big City... you see things that cannot be unseen... and yet...

I dunno. I've learnt that sometimes "why" is a time-suck rather than productive... and yet, in idle moments like this, one still wonders. Besides... with what's going on outside of cyberspace, one might wish to engender more such mindfulness...

You are correct, though. I think some have innate talent for mindfulness... but all of us need that nurtured. I know I did... and it's done me a world of good.

[siliconshaman]

I think it's like any talent... you can learn to be good at it though education and practice... or you can be born with a natural aptitude for it and just pick it up as you go on though life. That is, if you're not just going though life on auto-pilot and are actually paying attention and thinking about things as you live your life.

You're right though, Big Cities are good at rattling your cage to get your attention.