Certainty of Uncertainty (poem) by John Herlihy on AuthorsDen

Certainty of Uncertainty
by John Herlihy → (All Poetry by John Herlihy)
Saturday, June 15, 2024 Rated "G" by the Author.

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-- The Certainty of Uncertainty -- by John Herlihy A huge chasm exists Between what we know And what we grasp As an absolute certainty We know the stars Illuminates the dark of night We know them as a mystery Far beyond their meagre light Their beauty a certainty Their mystery an uncertainty When we awaken in the morning We know we have the power to do good And yet how many hours do we squander Going thru life hidden behind a hood Life’s potential a certainty Life’s fulfillment an uncertainty When we hear someone has died We think we know of the grief Now gone on whom we trusted, relied The emptiness offers no relief Death understood as a clear certainty Life understood as a clear uncertainty We know of love, live it, breathe it Found in the heart of our desire We see it, we cherish it, we fear it Yet beyond love’s edge a mystery In love’s intention lies certainty In love’s heart lies uncertainty What of uncertainty and certainty Nothing seems as certain a certainty What of our sense of uncertainty Nothing seems as uncertain as uncertainty - - - - - - Copyright © John Herlihy Sunday 28 April 2024

Reviewed by Jms Bell

Reviewed on June 18, 2024

I HAVE FOUND THERE IS AN ANTIDOTE FOR UNCERTAINTY(PS 146:5-6); '...HAPPY IS HE WHO HAS GOD FOR HIS HELP, WHO HOPES IN THE LORD GOD. THE GOD WHO MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH, THE SEA AND ALL THAT THEREIN IS; WHICH KEEPETH FOREVER...' FOR ME THEN, THOUGH LIFE BE UNCERTAIN AS YOU SAY... GOD ALONE IS...CERTAIN, AMEN. GREAT WORK, MY FRIEND THANKS FOR SHARING. LOVE, BLESSINGS AND FAITH...HIS+INSPIRATIONS.

Reviewed by Ronald Hull

Reviewed on June 15, 2024

Nice pondering, but we are quite certain about stars. How they are formed, what they are like in the beginning and what they are like during their existence of thermal nuclear fusion taking plentiful hydrogen atoms and creating helium atoms in the process. They live very long lives in the billions of years but they either burn out or explode in the end. When they explode, they create almost all of the atoms heavier than helium. Our lives could not exist without those beautiful, plentiful atoms from exploding stars.

Our lives are infinitesimally shorter than the stars. Our lives are certainly uncertain, because we are very fragile compared to stars. In an instant, we could be gone because of radiation from a pulsar that occurred millions of years ago from a super nova that was millions of light-years away. That's why we need to live our lives not "hidden behind a hood." We must live our lives with health and exuberance because we know we will die as you have referred to. Our grief should be short when relatives, friends or associates die because we should not depend upon those who will be dead before us.

Ron

Reviewed by Odin odin@aflx.com

As I read this, I couldn't help but think one can't know joy without experiencing some sorrow. You bring up an interesting point in that all your stanzas point to the certainty of the potential. It makes one think that, like in my climbing days, I was sure I would have a glorious experience climbing high toward a summit, and surprisingly, the greatest joy was the process of getting there, leaving the summit with less joy than the climb itself. Thank you for posting. A well-written piece of decision-making stimuli.