(reproduced here in the format of the original column from People Papers July 2024)
In July, the world comes alive and time seems to slow down just a little. Sailboats and sunshine float on the horizon. Lately I’ve been enjoying a classic poem, “If” by Rudyard Kipling and “if” I may give you some homework over summer break, it’s worth a quick read. I used it here as an epigraph because sometimes, good poems just won’t let go. This month’s crumbs are, “A Lesson in Waiting” and an original poem of my own called, “Summer Storm.” I hope you find some time for yourselves this summer to rest, relax, and recharge. It’s too hot for much else.
-Enjoy!
A Lesson in Waiting
“If you can wait and not be tired of waiting…
Or if hated, don’t give way to hating”
-From the poem“If” by Rudyard Kipling
Learning how to be patient never made it any easier. It’s funny, you know, somehow, I guess I always thought it would, but such is life. Maybe it’s the way we grow up, basing our expectations on the notions of a child, those pre-adolescent aspirations which rarely capture the complexity of adulthood (or anything coming close to it). Perhaps those childhood dreams became blinders in their own right. Such is the challenge of adapting to a chaotic world, learning rules of right and wrong, seeing them shirked by so many yet held onto dearly by exponentially more. Not yet realizing that growing wasn’t just a matter of getting bigger, no bedtime, no rules; instant gratification in all its glory. That these were temporary distractions at best and the seedlings of lifelong vice at worst. The grand scheme of it all sailed so very high over our heads.
Perhaps, it’s the waiting that’s the good part. After all, where is the thrill in accruing or achieving, without the excitement of the chase? How many shelves of tchotchkes and collectables can we cram into our homes only to gather dust as they slowly deteriorate in the corner? Looking back, is there anything better than those halcyon days, the lean and scrappy years in between the ground floor and the penthouse? Could Kipling himself imagine this life of comfort and repetition, of abstract distractions supreme?
Life keeps pushing and every moment we’re being sold something different from the TV, the internet, ads on the side of school buses (for God’s sake!), reminding us to buy and be happy. They sell us that “if only” line of thought. If only I lost this weight, if only I went to the gym every single day of my life and built those arms, if only I had the latest iPhone, then I’d be happy, then I’d be loved. In this regard, waiting can be a poison, a temporary opiate to placate the individual with same-day shipping, and life on-demand; an endless treadmill to someday.
There is a difference between wanting and having. So often the idea behind what the heart desires has nothing to do with the reality of that object, what it means to own it, or how much it ends up owning you. There is virtue in waiting, in delayed gratification, but time is a fickle mistress and waiting for that someday, can keep it from ever arriving. Yes, good things come to those who wait and quality work simply takes time, but don’t wait too long or it will all pass you by.
Dr. D. Ryan Lafferty is a local Bordentown poet, writer, and the author-illustrator of children’s books. To see more of his writing, visit www.dryanlafferty.com.
By D. Ryan Lafferty
Note. Originally published in the People Papers column, Literary Crumbs, July, 2024.
Literary Crumbs: Poems & Short Stories to Savor by D. Ryan Lafferty 