We’ve made it all too difficult,
… what’s good is out of reach.
Where’s the truth, where’s the fault?
It’s there … with those that preach.
The simple act of give and take,
Be kind to those who bleed,
All of this, for goodness sake,
A sermon does not need!
The simple choice of right from wrong,
And treat your neighbours well,
Shouldn’t lead to ‘I belong’
So protected ‘I’ can dwell.
. Good is not a destiny, to contemplate,
. Nor is it a key, to a closed estate..

© Tim Grace, 9 January 2011

To the reader: The quality of ‘goodness’ has been branded. Much like any commodity it’s been thrown to the markets. On the basis of supply and demand ‘goodness’ fluctuates in value. When poorly packaged ‘goodness’ loses its edge in the market place and recedes to a back-shelf option. In limited supply ‘goodness’ is only available through selected outlets; who for their own gain distort its features and in so doing marginalise its agency; compromise its potency… for goodness sake!

To the poet: The first stanza establishes the problem; the second and third do their best to respond. But in the end, it’s the final couplet that dutifully fulfils its role in offering a succinct and convincing summary. Exposition and argument need a logical sequence of propositions to be worthy of pen and ink on page. A good poem, like a good sermon, needs to be plausible not dogmatic; open to all.

all too difficult