A Blessing and a Curse
Nov 3 2020
“May you live in interesting times”
is both a blessing and a curse.
But we are never nothing but breathless
with the great importance of now,
never really learning
that history will likely forget us
or be falsified and twisted
for nefarious ends.
Or that the future will not even care,
just as we are ignorant of our past
and eagerly peering ahead,
aroused by novelty, excitement, distraction
while also hoping for the best.
Nevertheless, you may want to look back
at this momentous year
and find you agree that it was.
Because for once, I actually feel
that I can see history happening
around my inconsequential life,
and that the present is a hinge
on which the world will decisively turn.
Still, I feel this curse upon me
and would prefer to escape the noise.
To find a peaceful refuge
where the world comes to a stop
and the fiery passions go quiet
and there's plenty of time for thought.
Where the smallest things
will be interesting enough;
the first crocus of spring
through a glistening mantle of snow,
a clear night sky in winter
as more and more stars appear.
Because by now, I'm exhausted
by politics, and crisis, and threat.
“The end of history”, an academic once said,
thinking we'd come to consensus
but proved wrong in the end.
So please, let it be next year
I'm tired of being blessed.
If you're a student of history, you'll recognize this as the date of the 2020 US election, in which the Presidential candidates were Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and that it came after 4 years of a Trump presidency. ...Enough said.
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