TUESDAY POEM | EIGHT by Lao Tsu

                                          

Untitled | Pastel on Paper | CB | c. 1987

                                          EIGHT

                                          The very best we can be is like water.

                                          Reflect on the value of water:

                                          It benefits all creatures, without competing,

                                          It settles in places people dislike;

                                          Yes, this is very close to the way.

                                          Goodness in a house is its foundations,

                                          Goodness in a mind is its depth,

                                          Goodness in companions is their kindness,

                                          Goodness in speaking is sincerity,

                                          Goodness in government is straightforwardness,

                                          Goodness in work is skill,

                                          Goodness in movement is timing.

                                          It is only by not competing

                                          that we can avoid going wrong.

                                          Lao Tzu

This week's editor on the Tuesday Poem hub is Tim Jones with A Whimper After a Bang by Emily Manger. Tim writes

". . . What I like most about this poem is its swagger. Most post-apocalyptic poems are, believe it or not, something of a downer, but - at least on the surface - the protagonist of this poem is full of vim and vigour, tough as biltong, a kickass predator perfectly adapted to her environment. The toughness of the character is mirrored by the toughness of the poem, a landscape of spiky lines.

Look a little closer, though. . . " 

Please click on the quill.