Believe

This piece is offered in response to prompt #19 at We Write Poems
and in response to the visual prompt Mag 23 at Magpie Tales seen at bottom of post.



• image entitled “Weary” – colorized, digitally rendered by: rob kistner 2010


Believe

•

I’d like to make myself believe
the dream I dreamt as a young man
that we can change the world’s heart
to embrace love for one another

I’d like to make myself believe
people are by nature good
that we can live in peace
and make the world a better place

I’d like to make myself believe
universal understanding
is a common goal
of the peoples of this planet

I’d like to make myself believe
we haven’t lost our faith
in these sacrosanct ideals
of an elevated life

I’d like to make myself believe
there still exists somewhere
a shared and nurtured vision
of a paradise on earth

I’d like to make myself believe
but empty runs the hourglass
again I’ve heard the daily news
and I’m so weary, and brokenhearted

yes, I’d like to make myself believe
I’d like to, really like to
but sometimes now I even wonder
if anyone ever truly did

• • •

• poem above borrowed key line from the song “Fireflies” by Owl City

_________________

Time Running Out

•

once demure discourse

now rhetoric to offend

volatile neighbors

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

• haiku above also offered for the visual prompt Mag 23 at Magpie Tales,
and the September 15th prompt at Three Word Wednesday.


Mag 23

50 thoughts on “Believe”

    1. It is a struggle Maureen, and there seems to be so much negative, more everyday — but I’ve got to believe the tide will turn and people will someday discover the power of peace, and the the beauty of love…

      …rob

      Reply

  6. Dear Rob,
    Firstly, both Kathleen and yourself look a vision of life. Congratulations.

    I loved your haiku and of Believe, this is my favourite stanza –

    I’d like to make myself believe
    there still exists somewhere
    a shared and nurtured vision
    of a paradise on earth

    And it really does exist. In our hearts of hearts…

    Reply

  12. Time Running Out…did you really have neighbours like this? Know the feeling!Copacetic Haiku! And I truly love the “Believe” poem. It is very truthful, we want to make-believe in the best case scenario; Law of Attraction says this is possible. If we believe.We are the Believers. No Daydreamers (sometimes?).Yes, Isnt it a conundrum?Get this feeling in your poem, but I also sense there is no fatalism here, cause I intuitively sense you are A Believer and always shall be. Still we will Believe because of faith in the unseen; Love’s infinite being; the Source of all this “Believe”. “If you believe in fairies…” from Peter Pan. Maybe we bring things into existence with believing belief. I really truly deeply do hope so!

    Reply

    1. Jane, the term neighbor has very broad ramifications, such as neighboring countries — and yes, their are neighboring nations with VERY volatile relationships, and included in that perspective is the world as a neighborhood… their are some very dangerous and hostile neighbors when considered in that scenario…

      I am a believer in the human possibility, but a very weary one…

      …rob

      Reply

  14. Believing is only the first step. We watch the news, listen to the negatives, and it interferes with our ability to visualize what we believe. Visualizing is the action , the second step ater believing. “If you can see it, it’s possible.” And vision is the property of the poet who would be a prophet to his/her world. The longer one can hold the image, the more possible it becomes.

    Elizabeth

    Reply

  16. Hi,
    Well my first visit here and am happy that I came here.Believe,thats what we forget to do.
    Even if we believe our belief gets shattered cause of the people of the society around us.
    Lets just hope and try to stick to these beliefs that are so high.
    ~Harsha

    Reply

  20. I am right there with you. I try to imagine what our world would be like it there was just pure world peace. I still have hope but I kind of stopped watching the news daily because it is all just too much. I hate to be ignorant about what is happening but sometime I think we give it all too much air play and if people stopped watching it wouldn’t get the attention and the action wouldn’t become necessary. Maybe the harm to others would extinguish?

    Reply

    1. We may never know Kristen, in our lifetime, what a wholly peaceful world would be like — but I can certainly allow myself to imagine humankind fully realized, each individual actualized… it would be awesome, so I must continue to believe… 😉

      …rob

      Reply

  22. The world can be violent, sad, lonely, puzzling but, in the end, it’s always awe-inspiring. It’s up to us to make of it what we will. I suspect you, my dear, are one that makes it the awesome place it can be.

    Having said that, you haiku is so spot on it made me laugh out loud!

    Reply

  24. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to, but I chuckled after the haiku and was grateful for the lift after the realism of your poem. It is so hard these days to fight pessimism – perhaps the world over, but certainly in the U.S. United States? Really? United in what right now?….
    I still have hope, but it is a hope without naivete or stardust any longer.

    Reply

    1. The haiku was a bit of light sarcasm, pointed just next door, and envisioned less lightly from a global perspective as well — and I’m sure as hell runnin’ outta stardust Lydia — but clingin’ hard and fast to the few flecks still in hand…

      …rob

      Reply

  25. I once had some crazy neighbors. I decided we needed a break between our yards so we planted holly bushes. I like the way they frame my yard. What’s that old saying…Good fences make good neighbors.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *