Stranded in a deep pit
Without ropes or ladders
With no rocks or a ledge
The sheer walls seemed
Impossible to scale
A mass of people stood
At the bottom looking up
Most praised the brave people
Attempting to scale the walls
Others watched, pointed
Claimed they could do better
And when the climbers fell
Back into the mass
Some were chastized
For their puny efforts
Some were made heroes
For climbing higher than expected
Their comfort was knowing
That in the face
Of sheer futility
They had publicly failed
As they performed
An impossible task
somehow, this reminds me of recent developments ina certain online forum...and sometimes writing good poetry and putting it on public display seems rather futile...pearls for swine.
ReplyDeleteBut it is not just writing, it's creative and innovative thought in general - attempts at rising above mediocrity is rarely rewarded, and even if it is, it might not be in the manner, one had imagined.
Where I live, we have something called "Janteloven", which is a set of unofficial rules, we are all brought up with. Rule no. 1 is that "you should never think that you are special"
Rule no. 2 is "If you think you're special, someone will tell you otherwise, because youo are not special"
Rule no. 3 "You should not try to be better than anyone else" etc...
These rules are so deeply rooted in everyone around me. It's the direct opposite of "The American Dream" So your image is very clear to someone like me, but it ought not be in a society like yours...it ought not, but I know, sadly, that it is.
If no one was special, they could work together to climn out of the pit instead of making heroes out of the people who fall from the greatest heights.
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