Best Laid Plans
April 24 2022
When the best laid plans
collide with circumstance
life gets interesting.
If only the fortune tellers
and tea leaves
and readers of entrails
had something worthwhile to say.
If only the loud talking heads
shouting through the screen
knew what they were talking about.
If only history
came around again,
and we could look ahead
by looking back.
I believe in being prepared,
but time after time, get blind-sided
by contingency
surprise
complication.
And in the end
like everyone else
surrender to fate.
Because there is no self-made man,
no boot-straps long enough.
No visualization
that makes it so,
prognostication
you can count on.
No bloviating loud-mouth
spewing spittle
from a red flushed face
with anything useful to say.
Throw some dice
pick a card
pull the slot.
And when at last
the cherries align
and the klaxon sounds
and the coins come spilling out,
collect your winnings
and know it's time to stop.
All worthwhile just to get to say “bloviating”: a delightful but rather archaic word that not too long ago got a second life. In an age of populist demagogues and loud-mouth ideologues, a word that's perfect for our time.
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