It Happens

I like this

I know the feeling!

Max.....once again you have produced a masterpiece...!

I agree with Doc! It's a materpiece because of it's writing, and because it is true.

yep it is a masterpiece, max is a very profound individual

Max, it does indeed happen. But your interpretations give it the only power that it has. Rock that damn boat, my friend! Or do I really need to say that?

Yes, it has happened. And I do not think it will stop either.

This poem builds with the refrain "it happens" in an unvarnished way to show us there are no guarantees to life, it will surprise, we go alone from womb to tomb, and the only constant is change. Move, or get out of the road. Max, you do this deftly with several very original lines of free verse; I especially like, "The people you thought as pillars of your life/Dissolve like columns of salt with the first gush." I am just catching up with my connections after a long spate under the weather, but I have made a mental note to read you more often.

What moves me most about this poem is it is exactly how I feel this morning. My head is not in a good place, or at least not where I'd like it to be. It happens.

A masterpiece indeed max I can relate to that sometimes. good piece. as always

Most excellent and very true.

beautiflly written,love it,Shelly

Max, you speak from (and for) many hearts. I am touched by your honesty and your ability to capture the subtle (and not so subtle) soul movements.
I feel blessed to read your offerings.

Like standing on the beach after the wave comes and then pulls back, taking the sand under your feet with it.

It all dissolves.

Nothing can be counted on to be forever.

Love this brilliant little poem that says so very much about our living of life...

This is growing on me, Max -- the more I read it, the more I can identify. I want to investigate those cracks between time and space; I suspect that's where the boat REALLY rocks!

I like "pillage through hamlets of your ardent hopes"-- what a great metaphor! This is an apt reflection for a downer day, like todaywhen it is raining yet again. Your title is wonderful, and even though "it happens," we manage to keep going, don't we? thanks for a very fine poem.

It reminds me of the Buddhist wisdom that desire is misery. Oh how true that is for me. It is my "ardent hopes" regarding what I thought I needed for my happiness at this time in my life that has gotten me in so much financial trouble over the past few years. It's so fickle the way these hopes change, too. If we could just remember that. Something we will stake EVERYTHING on and end up losing, could be at the bottom of our priority list only a short time later. And then even that, along with the losses, simply dissolve away into a "lesson". Sometimes these lessons cause things that are irreversable.

"the only thing in life that is constant ... is change"

Beautifully said, Max, life is like fishing from a canoe, standing up.

Hi fellow-gatherers, from Doc Kozzak down to John L., thanks a lot each one of you. Within just two or three hours you have put in so many comments, I feel overwhelmed. Deeply touched by some of your incisive comments and will attempt to address only a handful tonight before hitting the hay.
John you come closest to what I had in my mind, the picture of me standing tentatively on a rickety canoe, tempted to rock the boat and yet restrained by good sense. You resonate well with my innermost thoughts.
Olga, your confessions are way too private for me to say anything, since we all basically operate differently. However I can understand your inner dichotomy well as I have seen many hope-ruined friends who can't seem to give up 'ardent hopes' despite a huge number of hopes smashed to smithreens... we are all slaves to our own 'perceived natures' that act as a sort of transparent bubble enveloping us. Food for thought!
Cheerz!

Amen, Max.

Very true

Thank you I liked it very much

Hey Jay, tks for the connection request, something went wrong, gather is not showing me your request so I have sent you a request... honored to accept your request. Keep in touch, keep faith and enjoy life !
Cheerz!

Beautiful Max, this piece is gradually growing on me. I suppose evryone goes through such phases in life, but above all it's '...standing still...' that takes you through.

A very depressing, yet realistic truth. I think we've all experienced this in one form or another. Unfortunately, we are not all as well written as you.
The kind of poems you write remind me of my sisters poems. They are beautiful.

Thanks Sapna and Dawne -much obliged.
Dawne can I see your sister's work ?
Cheerz!

I loved it and could feel/picture the pillars dissolving.
What pain and sadness.

This very nice, and visual.

Good work but it makes me want to say, "Bummer."

I love this--because elegant, and because it is true, as so many people have said, and because the first step to change is always acceptance.

Thanks Lydia, Diana, Kamala and Jackie F.
Diana, 'bummer' who or what? Life is a bummer? Who wants our opinions? Or this poem is a bummer? Double entendre!
Lydia, yes you said it with elegance.
First step to change is always acceptance.
This requires a whole poem by itself. Will do that soon.
Cheerz!

This is so good, so real, so true... I have loved all of your work I have been fortunate enough to read on Gather. Thank you.

Max, the poetry is great! It brought to mind some sad but emotional ideas, for instance soul-crushing defeats and hopelessness. It is elegant, wise and stirring.

Thanks a lot Glenda, and Diana.
I guess one resonates when one identifies a situation in someone else's life with.... how perfectly universal are all these delicate feelings.
cheerz!

nice!