Mark Stucky Poet Free verse

Notes About The Poem

(How can we fully embrace living when facing inescapable uncertainty? This poem ponders how lessons from performing improve comedy might apply to enhancing life…and greeting death.)

By Mark D. Stucky

Improvising Existence

Improv is an unscripted comedy form.
Starting with an idea for a sketch,
actors interact with each other,
making up things as they go.

As one person responds to another,
“No, but…” squashes spontaneity,
while “Yes, and…” builds the banter,
propelling witty action forward.

Quick and clever dialogue
promises even more to come.
Then, after finding an apt ending,
a brand-new sketch can begin.

Our lives are also unscripted.
Improvising our existence,
we react to evolving situations
with “Yes, and” for guidance.

Whenever feasible and appropriate,
say “Yes, and” to others and to life,
for enhancing enjoyment
while building community.

And even in our final moments,
we can still say “Yes, and” to death
since there is much more to come
when the new sketch begins.


(First published in Spirit Whispers: Eclectic Writings on Spirituality on Substack, 17 May 2025.)   

(Image by Monica Silvestre on Pexels.com.)

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