My Old Friend

My Old Friend

Hello, Rage my old friend

Come to speak through me again

Subtle

Like a speeding train that's jumped its tracks

I like to think I live what Socrates deemed an examined life. Personal improvement, growing understanding of others and the of the world were always highly valued in my home growing up. Even as my father counted out his final days, knowing death was coming for him soon, He read. He sought knowledge. He sought wisdom. We sat together discussing the mysteries of God and of life.

Thus, self-examination has always been part of my life experience. I wrote this poem one day after a particularly unfortunate verbal tirade over some perceived slight. It reminds me of the old saying, "Speak when you are angry and you will deliver the best speech you'll ever regret."

And we have the great wisdom writer, James, the brother of Jesus, who said:

"...the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." (James 3:5-9)