-- Ode to an Unknown Fate --
John Herlihy
Mercy lies in an unknown fate,
Surprises always seem to happen late.
Will never know what I would have done,
If I knew of my destiny already spun.
No lesson learned from a fatal mistake,
No swimming awash in my own life’s wake.
We can take what comes as a lark,
If it comes to us out of the pitch dark.
It’s the blindness that steers us along,
New melodies listened to in the day’s song.
Sometimes a veil is lifted, our sight keen,
When we know what the day’s fate will mean.
The blind man sees what all others never know,
The unseen winds of fate over mountains blow.
- - - - - -
Copyright ©John Herlihy
Tuesday 23 November 2021
Each morning lately I see a half pint mouse scurry to below my deck to take birdseed down there so that he/she can have a stash for winter. But his/her days may be numbered by numerous cats, occasional hawks, nightly possums, and if he/she gets inside, our terrible blood bleeding rat poison. For me, I'm still planning, but unknown obstacles appear daily.
Your poem is so apropos to our times. But I like the karma of it. In the end, things tend to be all right even if they are far different from what was thought would happen.
A good one to get us thinking.
Ron