Private Lives

Today
My world is bright
I am celebrating long years of togetherness
In love

As I walk to the florist
My head is full
I am thinking warm thoughts of romance
In red

Just then
A funeral procession drives by
They are mourning a lifetime of loving
In black

With flowers they try
To beautify the ugliness of death
And recall a life that once blossomed then withered
In vain

Today
I am smiling while others are crying
I am in love while others are lonely
I am safe while others are threatened
I am content while others are hungry
I am living while others are dying

Tomorrow
Fortune’s smile may turn to frown on my life
Black clouds may drift across the sun of my world
Love’s bouquet may be exchanged for a wreath of sorrow

Tomorrow
I may have reason to cry
If I am suddenly alone, frightened and hungry
If love turns its back and hope deserts me
Then I too may wish for all the world
To die

This is life
And what can we do but live it
Grounded in where we are
Conscious of when we are
Truthful to who we are
Searching for why we are

For the world
Is never one place at any one time
And though we may share
Common experiences with many
Precious intimacy with some
Still we live private lives
Inside and out.

Wayne Visser © 2004

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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