even stone
will ebb and flow
like time and truth
I sometimes wonder why I ever bother to frame things in absolute terms, whether I do it out loud or just in my head; it seems as though I always wind up changing down the line. There was a time when I thought I would never leave Michigan, and yet over time something happened — a disillusionment with the environment, and my prospects therein — that made me say without hesitation when the opportunity arose for the Nth time, “yes. I am so done with this place.”
There are convictions that emerge and flee as fast as they came, and there are those that stand so long you feel like you could crack entire worlds upon them like oysters; then one day you turn around and they’re gone . . . all you can do is wonder at how you could have thought you were so right.
I can only hope that there are a few of my notions that will stay with me to the end of the road; after all, what does it take to challenge what seems like an infallible personal fact? Aren’t we in control of these? Some are weathered from without; some are afflicted from within; and still some can be taken down with a well-aimed shot. No matter how you slice it, it can be hard to see that coming.
The residual silt of those verdicts is absorbed into a sea of thoughts, only to wash up on the tides to the temple’s gate — building up over time, on the open plain, where wisdom can reflect on the fact that nothing in this realm is permanent.
Rob's Surf Report 
When I consider the cosmos, the insignificance of my hopes, dreams and every tiny atrocity that ever befell me become starkly clear. What meaning can one human have in the great scope of things…?
Well, meaning is highly subjective, isn’t it Tonya? It’s a useful and humbling exercise to consider the grand scale, but at the end of the post we all create our own meaning that forms part of the background to an even greater purpose; so when you zoom out, yeah it seems insignificant. But I like to think that just as the smallest microorganisms can make or break the survival of a human or a giant redwood, so too do our own purposes and experiences have their integral place in the fabric of space and time.
In other words, you might be teeny tiny, but do not doubt that you are vital to the Universe, or else I doubt that you’d be here!
Well, that’s a good way of looking at it. 🙂
I thought so. 🙂 thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts, it was good to consider!
Interesting post Rob —- and since my brain and body are in meltdown — to sum it up bluntly – in the here and now: Welcome to middle-age (close enough in your case) —- where suddenly out of the blue – you wake up on fine morning, are going about your day – and then out of nowhere – leading to somewhere – God knows – you *realize* — you *know sh!t about life.
It’s as simple as that.
okay – I’ve oversimplified it – but that’s more or less what it boils down to – you carve out creeds and beliefs and think – this is solid – this is *my foundation* and will always be – and then as time moves in all directions (mostly forwards in our realm) – you realize that there is a hole there, a crack here and – whoa – that whole section has practically caved in. So you asses, determine, fix or repair daily – or change – move house and rebuild, re-carve, refashion, re-tool.
And I *think* this is the way it’s supposed to be — everything is always in motion, flux and change. Nothing rests in stasis – energy has to always be vibrating – slower or higher frequencies – this natural flow – the cycle that repeats over and over – and yet we think it’s better to be “steady and sure” — and then are surprised when life throws that hard curve ball that just catches the tip of the bat hard enough as you swing – crack – but you feel vibrate through your body – like an electrical strike – and even as you are running for first base – you wonder why it is you are running at all?
No – I’m not out of my mind – almost but not quite.
Enough of my perhaps jagged and stripped thoughts.
Loving the way truth makes a well-timed appearance in the punchy last line of this haiku!
I’m glad you enjoyed it . . . thanks for helping me rediscover this piece. 🙂