Fierce

I had a hard training in the streets, unexpectedly. From ceramics in the country to a retail footprint in a tough town. At the epicentre, next to a multi-story car park (which some jumped off to get out). Dealing directly with the people in an open public venue, it was. I learned to be wise is best and to never show fear. In fact, to eradicate fear (without losing global awareness, at all times). Under 24/7 pressure of potential violence (mostly from unemployed youth and vested, established power structures), one learns many things. Anyway, that was my boot camp and 13 years of continual rotation in a most demanding urban environment. As the social situation on the streets of rainy England started to deteriorate with increasing momentum, I was able (no choice) to study reality up close and personal. I regard this period as nothing less than an astonishing twist of fate. I learned the meaning of light and dark and where the centre of the whirlwind is and how to use that correctly out in the daily solid, until this became second nature. My understanding of ‘fierce’, as a result, is that fierce is fine as a metaphor for being proactive when called. But, fierce as a final solution contains the seeds of its own destruction. So, we occupy the middle ground of stillness where one can scope in the round and only act when that message comes to us as a certainty, and do it with swiftness, and with no hesitation nor compunction. As a result, I was still standing when the moving on time came. Not only that, I had actually gained a position in the pecking order of natural authority and respect in the township. All of which was completely surprising to me, and is, even now, as I type these last words of the day before sleep. . . .

last thing she will ever know

is heard by everyone—

on the concrete

jp

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20-11-11

suicide backstory

NOTE

In popular imagination, suicides feature more so in the dark half of the year - especially around Xmas. According to statistics, however, spring is the suicide hot-spot. Either option is valid, technically, but the folk memory/imagination option is dominant, as most folks will assume this period, if pressed. So, we have a seasonal reference of dark half (which is correct for the event's dateline). Thus, I claim this to be a haiku and not a senryu.