Cravement

Every path but your own is the path of fate. Keep on your own track, then. - Thoreau

i'm a lonely sidewalk rolled out in the morning and taken in at night

with a confusing, confounding, concrete plight

i've so many not-so-wise cracks

breaking so many mamas' backs

in seemingly covert but justified sneak attacks

with an occasional tree root breaking up through

i just don't know what to do

hurried feet step over my inflexible, granite curb

like a sarcastic, spicy herb

so many abyssal feelings swirl inside

addition and subtraction like an astronomical tide

i'm a volting vegetarian feasting on succulent, fatty meat

a treacherous, solitary path forever sanguine and bittersweet

why must my life be so indigestibly unfair

getting me nowhere

hobbling around with one crutch

maybe that's the problem

i care too much

Author's Note

“A single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” - Thoreau

Reviews

[John the Baptist]

It seems the speaker here is likening himself to a sidewalk. Does not sound like the best of lots. There are multiple cracks, but also the occasional spicy herb. As it says, both addition and subtraction. Could be worse, though. Five hundred does not sound like a bad average.

[Pete]

way to look at the bright side j. the b. even a sidewalk serves a purpose although having people walk all over you can't be very enjoyable as you point out. remember to look both ways before crossing ... :)

[barleygirl]

Your poem gradually & expertly morphs from unfeeling concrete slab to "caring too much" . . . excellent symbolism for the way we try to steel ourselves against the onslaught of the unimaginable these days. I couldn't help but see this cracked buckling concrete slab as being any number of public platforms used for the fomenting of our times. People make hard harsh remarks that come across as blaming, unfeeling, or vicious, but many inflammatory remarks stem from deep unresolved caring. Your wordplay is delightful & your imaginative imagery is off-the-charts (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Pete]

those "blaming, unfeeling, or vicious, but many inflammatory remarks stem from deep unresolved caring" and can make us feel like sidewalks getting walked all over. we should care but it can be oh so hard when things seem to conspire against us. caring makes us vulnerable. great, in-depth review - maybe too good because now you've got me thinking about it again ... :)

[X]

#1 Is our own path not of fate? and #2....some thoughts are not worth the a second thought still they keep going circles creating annoying paths that dominate my brain...does he have a remedy?

[Pete]

#1 - no, fate is beyond our control, we control our own paths. i think he's saying that we can force the issue and make our own path if we have the will to do so rather than leaving it up to random fate (we don't have to accept it). #2 - i think he's talking about good, productive paths and thoughts. surely 'tis useless to let useless, annoying thoughts dominate our lives and thinking. he refused to live as everyone else and went his own way - people thought he was crazy and ridiculed him. he thought the mass of people who go along simply to get along are the crazy ones. he built a shack in the woods and wrote ... :)

[X]

#1 is still a mind twister--:( #2 good solution ...I am going to the woods --wanna come?:)

[Pete]

i used to live near walden pond and have swum and walked where he did. i've been pondering doing that for some time now. barleygirl lives out in the boonies of cal. and writes. but now the fires are all around her. these are difficult times for sure - only faith will get us through. i'm increasingly ready to chuck everything and go ... :)

[X]

I lived in Belmont when my ex was at the Harvard Business School in 1976...we went to Walden Pond many a times...I loved Mass but life moved us to Chicago and now I am in burning Heaven... my brother is in Natick

[X]

An interesting point of view Pete! I have heard of the term 'feelin' like a door mat' and have felt as such upon occasion, but a side walk, I must admit is a big undertaking ...no pun...:) Them T quotes left me pondering...but I wont bore you :)

[Pete]

remember the games we would play on sidewalks as children - the fun, imagining and dreaming? i wish it would be like that again. now, i dread sidewalks because they only take me to places i'm bored with or don't want to go at all. i guess life can walk all over us if we let it. thanks for taking the uncomfortable stroll kira ... :)

[Pete]

never bored with deep thoughts, i assure you ... :)

[X]

LOLOL...it is always a pleasure to stroll on your sidewalk Pete...and yes, I do remember the games we played and although more than 50 years have gone by it seems like yesterday...I have very fond memories from my childhood...I recently made a video about my late father. I post it soon.