Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Providence is a fair Equalizer

                                                                                                  Author: Basile Morin
Image: The Young and the Old (here)

I am the bud and the blossom, I am the late-falling leaf  -  Paul Dunbar’s The Paradox:

All the world’s a stage of which are enacted
seven parts. Two parts are of uncanny similarity
but paradoxically different. The infant at the
beginning and the second childhood at the end
for 'I am the bud and the blossom' says one  
and sadly 'I am the late-falling leaf' says the other

The infant is helpless, dependent on minders
for every need. But showered with love and affections
bubbly and cute is adored and cuddled in all innocence

The second childhood is just as dependent on minders
But that’s where it ends. 

Existing in the misery of dementia where personal 
hygiene has gone asunder. Aged and spent devoid 
of memory, dehumanized and degrading unkempt
to say the least. Planned obsolescence of humankind
sans everything!

Why is this so? Is it nature’s way to ensure those with
debilitating afflictions the late falling leaves are accorded 
the love and affections due to them just as one is 
bubbly and cute? (even though they are a misery 
to themselves and their minders! )

Maybe so, it is so!
Providence is a fair Equalizer.

There is no denying it!

Note: Acknowledging the wisdom of the Bard

Laura at d'Verse Poetics - the resolution of opposites/

8 comments:

  1. A great job interpreting the prompt. The irony of the first and second childhood is always with us. Planned obsolescence becomes much clearer these days!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderfully expressed Hank. Thanks for sharing.

    Yvonne.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, very poignant and solemn. Love the references and themes to time with Shakespeare:

    "All the world’s a stage of which are enacted
    seven parts. Two parts are of uncanny similarity
    but paradoxically different. The infant at the
    beginning and the second childhood at the end"

    Well penned and beautifully weaved throughout your words. You made this rock want to cry. <3

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good essay on a life's trajectory. I think I'm hearing you say the elderly can hope for the level of care they received as infants and then how they passed that care onto their offspring. So often those measures repeat themselves through the generations -- for both good and ill.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So much in life is really very cyclic... and becoming dependent and in a second childhood is nothing that we want. Maybe there are those old people who get bubbly and cute, but alas not often.

    ReplyDelete
  6. End of life should not be the end of love!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a true paradox, Hank. How to reconcile it.
    Beautiful work!

    ReplyDelete