Engaging write, Roeland. I like it, and the message you spread with it. We need to think about the next generations more, and find better ways to care for our beautiful planet.
Thank you Arjan for finding it and letting the writing land.
I believe the magic comes when we see that how we care for the planet and future generations we in turn care for ourselves. Or - when we start to truly care for ourselves, stripping down to the truth of a better life, we unequivocally take care of the future.
With you sharing my words and those of many gifted artists here on substack, you are already contributing to that better world @Arjan.
Phew! What a great piece. That last line ‘And once more make sandcastles of hopes and dreams come true’ really comes off. Nicely done. This message is poignant in our times.
I’d like to issue a grievance though; no true elder would enslave. This comes with the lack of true elders. What we’ve got are unfinished boys masquerading as men, most of whom wouldn’t recognize an elder if one were pouring honeyed wisdom in their broken ears.
I take it you are perhaps familiar with works like 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' (Moore & Gilette) and 'Rites and Symbols of Initiation' (M. Eliade) which voice messages similar to yours - that we live in a world of boys trapped in male bodies. And we fail to raise them because, among other reasons - predominantly in 'The West' - we put our elders in retirement homes and lack the curiosity to integrate their valuable teachings. It is a sad realization.
So the part of 'Elders enslave' was more of a style choice to aid the flow of the piece rather than a generalization.
Thank you kindly for lending your time and senses to my poem.
Ha! 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' is beside me right now. I admit though, I haven't started it yet (just been loaned from a friend). But I adore Robert Moore and have listened to him extensively, particularly his lectures from the Minnesota Men's Conference (available on YouTube), which ooze that honeyed wisdom. I've only heard snippets of Eliade but what I hear always strikes me like a bell. That bit about boys trapped in male bodies, elders in retirement homes, all that resonates with me, and is indeed a sad realization. Perhaps it's time to shuffle M.E. to the top of the 'must read' pile.
Totally get that you were going for style. It flows the way it flows, right? It's not generally in my nature to question word choices. I'd hoped it wouldn't come off as prickly because I was certainly onboard with the thrust and intent of your writing--and now I'm pleased with resultant exchange.
This seems like a place where I can make a distinction between Elders and the elderly. I don't believe that merely aging into senior years qualifies one as a true elder, particularly in Western Modernity. I don't intend this as a putdown, just an observation. Here we're all children of the West. Boys can be dressed as 40 year old men and 80 year old men alike. Where are the men who carry the flame of our ancestors' wisdom and know which men need to feel its warmth, who give it freely and timely?
Thanks for your poem. I'm ever so glad it was there for me to lend my time and senses to.
Engaging write, Roeland. I like it, and the message you spread with it. We need to think about the next generations more, and find better ways to care for our beautiful planet.
Thank you Arjan for finding it and letting the writing land.
I believe the magic comes when we see that how we care for the planet and future generations we in turn care for ourselves. Or - when we start to truly care for ourselves, stripping down to the truth of a better life, we unequivocally take care of the future.
With you sharing my words and those of many gifted artists here on substack, you are already contributing to that better world @Arjan.
Yes, I absolutely agree with that: Caring for future generations = caring for ourselves = having a better (and more fun) life.
Your post had been waiting in my inbox for a while. I have amassed a bit of a backlog :).
Phew! What a great piece. That last line ‘And once more make sandcastles of hopes and dreams come true’ really comes off. Nicely done. This message is poignant in our times.
I’d like to issue a grievance though; no true elder would enslave. This comes with the lack of true elders. What we’ve got are unfinished boys masquerading as men, most of whom wouldn’t recognize an elder if one were pouring honeyed wisdom in their broken ears.
Wholeheartedly agree with you @Jefferdman,
I take it you are perhaps familiar with works like 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' (Moore & Gilette) and 'Rites and Symbols of Initiation' (M. Eliade) which voice messages similar to yours - that we live in a world of boys trapped in male bodies. And we fail to raise them because, among other reasons - predominantly in 'The West' - we put our elders in retirement homes and lack the curiosity to integrate their valuable teachings. It is a sad realization.
So the part of 'Elders enslave' was more of a style choice to aid the flow of the piece rather than a generalization.
Thank you kindly for lending your time and senses to my poem.
Ha! 'King, Warrior, Magician, Lover' is beside me right now. I admit though, I haven't started it yet (just been loaned from a friend). But I adore Robert Moore and have listened to him extensively, particularly his lectures from the Minnesota Men's Conference (available on YouTube), which ooze that honeyed wisdom. I've only heard snippets of Eliade but what I hear always strikes me like a bell. That bit about boys trapped in male bodies, elders in retirement homes, all that resonates with me, and is indeed a sad realization. Perhaps it's time to shuffle M.E. to the top of the 'must read' pile.
Totally get that you were going for style. It flows the way it flows, right? It's not generally in my nature to question word choices. I'd hoped it wouldn't come off as prickly because I was certainly onboard with the thrust and intent of your writing--and now I'm pleased with resultant exchange.
This seems like a place where I can make a distinction between Elders and the elderly. I don't believe that merely aging into senior years qualifies one as a true elder, particularly in Western Modernity. I don't intend this as a putdown, just an observation. Here we're all children of the West. Boys can be dressed as 40 year old men and 80 year old men alike. Where are the men who carry the flame of our ancestors' wisdom and know which men need to feel its warmth, who give it freely and timely?
Thanks for your poem. I'm ever so glad it was there for me to lend my time and senses to.