-- The Other Side of Doubt --

John Herlihy

We all know the sinister side of doubt,

That feeling of draining away into a rout.

A flicker of uncertainty during our prayer,

Becoming a deluge of impending despair.

Doubt attacks thoughts by eating at their edge,

Eroding foundations of mind whispered as pledge.

We make decisions from what we think we know,

The seamless fabric of our life that we dutifully sew.

Yet for every uncertainty there lies a certainty,

The relative opposites in life a certain mystery.

Within the threads of doubt lies a growing tapestry,

The other side of doubt offers the mystery of certainty.

In a river of doubt, certainty ripples as a brook,

The pull of certainty lies in the mind as a hook.

The arrival of certainty marks the end of doubt,

All these unanswered questions turning into a rout.

Seeds of certainty make sounds in us older than words,

As flighty and promising as the whispers of birds.

A certainty so sure, so magnificent, intended to last,

A certainty that doubt prevents us to fully grasp.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Saturday `14 November 2020