Notes About The Poem
Edward's 'This or That Vol 36 Contest ~ September 27, 2025
Through Life's Clenched Jaw
It's easy to blame Life for our plights and woes.
The day-to-day throes that weigh heavy on us.
Those that overwhelm our senses with worry.
Is it actually Life that torments us
or is it just the pretense we use to blame
our troubles on something... anything
except ourselves as being responsible
for lighting the fuse igniting our struggles?
Life is a rat race where we scurry like mice,
hurrying here and there with things we pursue.
Finances are always stretched to the max,
our names etched on documents for payment due.
Problems ensue and we become imbued with
health issues, climate change, global unrest.
It seems each day we're being tested anew,
taunted, and haunted by fear when we hear
of some new threat to society and more so
when it involves the ones we dearly love.
If we feel Life holds us in its grasp like a vise,
maybe we need to consider a new attitude.
Few of us ever have enough financial security.
Nickles and dimes buy nothing lately,
and never does time allow us enough hours
to get through a day feeling unscathed.
I've come to realize that Life is not to blame.
It's wayward people who treat it as a game,
those who hold power for greed and gain.
We don't roll the dice to decide where we go.
We're responsible for so much more than that.
But there are no do-overs for any of us
when wrong decisions are made.
Nor do we get pats on our backs
when we've made the right choice.
It's our voice that we listen to; our voice we hear.
Our jaws are often clenched,
our teeth grinding to the point of pain
when burdens and despair drive us to the brink
of feeling like we're standing on the edge of a cliff.
But is it really fair to blame Life for our troubles,
or when our thoughts ask the question, "What if?"
Let's not keep our jaws clenched in silence.
Speak up; speak out against wrongdoings.
We all have problems on different levels
with which we struggle, but breaking free
of them will release the tension in our jaws
and the vise grip we accuse Life of having on us.
We need to find a way to stop those stones
from hurling themselves in our direction...
the ones that ripple across our calm waters,
threatening to keep hold of us in their grip.
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