PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

Humans will arrive at the destination they set on the compass of life .....

 

Pursuit of Happiness

 

In long steady strides he progresses through 

the way, thunder rolls across the plain and lightning crashes with a violence previously unknown.

 

 

 

 

Sleet forms on his leather visage, steely eyes fixed

on distant horizon, the horizon obscured by threatening clouds .

 

As the storm subsides, swarms of hungry pests form  in angry clouds about him and he strides onward  looking only toward the goal.

 

Entering upon the shore of a long dead sea, thirst becomes a passion and he strides on.

 

A jungle now appears and a promise of the life giving sustenance , but no, wild beasts cry out with terrifying sounds, pests fill the air and the water is  plentiful but poisonous to touch, the air is foul with  mold and disease, he strides on, ignoring the life  about him , ignoring the slithering, disgusting life.

 

Approaching the horizon, snow begins to fall,  he

strides on, gaze fixed on the compass in his mind .

The mountain becomes impassable , his stride is

steady , his compass set at birth, no force on earth

will stay him, he is man.

---- Eagle Cruagh

 

Reviews

[IMOGEAN]

It is only man who has the innate willpower to move forward at all costs. The growth of human kind will be not staved by the wilderness, mountains, sleet or snow, even the deserts cannot stop us, for it will all be explored, studied and conquered. Our thirst for knowledge and understanding separates us from mere animals. We are conscious beings who knowingly sit at the top of the food chain dictating to the world around us to be our supple servant. Man kind is nothing more than biological beasts, but the spirit within, that is the life force which is our soul, craves something more and it always shall. Hopefully, in our humanly quests we do not eventually conquer our own selves destroying the living planet around us, as well.
Thank you for this wonderful piece of literature that you have created, John. It provoked my thoughts into awareness. You are brilliant, as usual.

Imogean~

[Pratibha]

he strides on, ignoring the life about him , ignoring the slithering, disgusting life....

YES, after a long time, i realised that indeed a man is what he thinks and does,...compass of life guides us and leads us...it is up to us, where do we want to go...
i have seen so many teenagers writing sad poems and cutting themselves.....in this site as well as on booksie and instead of having any sympathy for them, i get angry...life is so precious...and here they are taking each breath for granted.....!!
I have seen people coming out of pain and leading others out of pain....Ellen is one of them. She has gone through so much yet here she is, sharing faith, love and goodwill, guiding us through darkness and petty problems
INDEED EAGLE, U HAVE SHOWN ONCE MORE THAT YOU ARE "EAGLE"

[deactivated account. pl..]

Inspiring.
You really catch man's tenacity here, his ability to persist against all odds, what seperates man from beast.
Poetically written, beautiful phrasing.
"thunder rolls across the plain and lightning crashes with a violence previously unknown." - I love the way that sounds.
Really spectacular piece.

[-Aurelia Mirella]

This is so moving, I just can't get enough!

If only more people in this world had the same willpower you just described. I loved how you used nature depict it as well. You are absolutely incredibile!

-Aurelia Mirella

[emmajoy]

Difficult to know what to add after reading the critique below... let me think:

so appreciated the way the poem moves at a pace, just the right length, as if moving on and on down the centuries. Your words take flight, use motion... You've caught each period of time in quite a short piece but, they jump from the page like pictorial flashes

Man has been and will be... until another one finishes him off!