1) I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am hopeless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
2) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I'm in the same place.
But it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
3) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
I see it is there.
I still fall in... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
4) I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
I walk around it.
5) I walk down another street.
"Autobiography In Five Chapters"
Portia Nelson
From: Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
Portia Nelson
From: Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying
After conversation the other day reminded me of this poem. I thought I would share it with you!
Enjoy.
Follow My Blog:
"I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life" - Louise L. Hay
1 comment:
This same thing happened to my mother-in-law., except the hole wasn’t in the sidewalk, it was in the street that she lived on. So since MIL couldn’t avoid the pothole, she did something else instead. She organized all her neighbors in a letter writing campaign. They wrote letters to the city about the pothole and finally got it fixed.
Not as poetic as the original, I know, but the poem can only have its effect if the reader doesn’t ask, “Why is there a dangerous hole in the sidewalk, and why doesn’t the speaker feel any responsibility for getting the hole fixed instead of just avoiding it? Is it possible that the speaker’s lack of civic engagement and responsibility is related to the speaker’s continuing to make the same error that the hole is supposed to represent?”
Post a Comment