keith jeffries

The Choice is yours

by keith jeffries

Saturday 19th May 2018 6:27 pm

The Choice is yours

You can struggle in the gutter with misshapen faces

allow yourself to be plagued with nightmares

Fight the inner fight of eternal conflict

or you can liberate the soul

to fly to a nest, a perch with a new horizon

The comparison is life changing

a troubled mind receives a glimmer of love

a perspective with optimism to the fore

as never experienced before

Some stay forever in a squalid morass of animosity

consumed by perpetual strife to no avail

They labour on with grim determination

but such battles are already lost

Shake off the dust of dirt and stiains

emboldened with desire stretch out those wings

and leap, soar into the unkown

To a loftier land with never ending views

and incomparable beauty

🌷 (3)

◄ Dad

A Roof Terrace ►

Comments

Hazel ettridge

Sun 20th May 2018 09:16

I guess we're all reading this (and all poems) through our own lenses. Im getting 'hope'. When Im lost in the gutter I'm always grateful for a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and a reminder of alternative states of mind - last 5 lines.

<Deleted User> (13762)

Sun 20th May 2018 08:16

Kevin, please rest assured that your contribution on WoL is as valid as anyone else's and it would be a great shame if you felt uncomfortable in continuing to do so. I noticed a while ago that you had partly deleted your profile. I would have sent you this message privately but now it's not possible. Please stay and be a part of the WoL community. I for one have always valued your input and would be sad to lose both your poetry and interaction. I'm sorry you feel that way. WoL should be a comfortable and safe place for everyone. I hope you have a peaceful Sunday. All the very best, Colin.

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sun 20th May 2018 08:16

I read it as personal to your own circumstances, based on comments you' ve made previously Keith. Am I right?

kJ Walker

Sun 20th May 2018 07:52

Hi Keith
I had vowed to myself to stop posting and commenting on this site (my comments were drawing more critique than my blogs). However I felt compelled to chip in my two-penn'orth on this one.
Being an uneducated ignoramus, I find it hard to read between the lines, but i try.

At first glance you seem to be simply telling people who are suffering with depression to "snap out of it" or "pull yourself together"
But I know you far better than that, and that isn't the message at all. You are a man of belief and religion, so I gather that you are conveying a spiritual message.
The last four lines could be references to angels and heaven (unless I've read too much into it)

Sorry if I have got this wrong, (again)

Cheers Kevin

keith jeffries

Sat 19th May 2018 21:19

David, Brian and Anya,
thank you again. I think Anya has hit on what I am trying to convey. I also have met people who are in difficult or contentious situations and wont let go. They brood and brood about it,

David I think your self criticism is unjustified.
Keith

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 19th May 2018 20:30

Not that much though!!!!

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 19th May 2018 20:28

I admire honesty David.

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 19th May 2018 20:27

I admire honesty David.

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 19th May 2018 20:27

I admire honesty David.

keith jeffries

Sat 19th May 2018 20:14

Brian and David,
thank you both. The choice is yours is about taking the initiative in one´s life. Depression and anxiety develop in the mind which is fertile ground for outside forces to affect and influence our thinking. These conditions often require the help of a pyscholanalyst or medication but many people stay in a state of mind whereby they allow matters to take a hold of the thought process. Then they begin some internal conflict inside the mind which serves no purpose other than to irritate or plague the person concerned. They live in their own misery and the only way out is to take the initiative and break loose. I cannot understand people who wallow in such situations when the door is there to be opened but they are unable to do so for some inexplicable reason. Obsessive behaviour may explain such conditions to an extent but I have come across many who are unhappy or miserable and don´t need to be so. They can be dismissive of help also. We can all fly, we just have to flap our wings
Keith

<Deleted User> (18980)

Sat 19th May 2018 19:36

I guess if you can take yourself out of a perpetually stressful situation and lead a calmer life it will help any inherent anxiety...but as David says it probably won't completely solve it.

Anyway, good piece Keith.

If you wish to post a comment you must login.

Please consider supporting us

Donations from our supporters are essential to keep Write Out Loud going

Bringing poetry to people

Click here to donate now