Cracks

The cracks in the road looked more pronounced now

He could relate to that

Before it was barely noticeable

But over time you could definitely see the difference

Sometimes they would patch it up

A plaster to hide the holes

He wondered about his own cracks

Over time they had also become more pronounced

He had used the same plasters

They even worked for a time

But now they wouldn’t work

The plasters of advice had come to an end

He watched the resurfacing team at work

A new road in progress

Almost like new

He listened to the man on the phone, who unlike the others said he couldn’t help

Not even a plaster, he pleaded

No, not even a plaster, only you can fix yourself

The guy was right, only he could fix himself

Six months later, he noticed the cracks reappearing

He supposed it was just ongoing

The big cracks had stopped in his own life

He would never be a new road

But for now he was safe to travel over.

Reviews

[FJ Davis]

The old, decidedly unflattering characterization comes to mind: "Forty miles of bad road."
It's hell to age and collect a few too many barnacles on your hull.
Enjoyed your work, Paul!

[ms. understood]

This poem is lovely and reminds me of my own internal struggles. My favorite book, Siddhartha, features a line that goes, "Wisdom cannot be imparted. Wisdom that a wise man attempts to impart always sounds like foolishness to someone else ... Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it." We can only learn about life through our own experiences but not through the wisdom in which others try to provide.

[Paul Bell]

Spot on, someone else s wisdom is theirs. We all eventually have to walk the walk, and for some it's a short one. In saying that, life is still good, and we should never forget that. I'll check out the book.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed a sage message within Paul. Like the analogy here with the road. Seems thses days our roads never get mended though. A nice descriptive, metaphorical write.

[Paul Bell]

Yip, our roads are just potholes on potholes now. Like the idea in India where they're using recycled plastic to make the roads. Got to be worth a try.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Doesn't plastic melt and cause polution?

[Paul Bell]

Yeah, but no potholes. Win, win.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed a sage message within Paul. Like the analogy here with the road. Seems thses days our roads never get mended though. A nice descriptive, metaphorical write.

[MomzillaNC]

"only you can fix yourself"

It's a universal truism. For all the advise and a "little help from [our] friends," it will always ever still be that "only [we] can fix [ourselves]" -- it will always be that we must take the good advise; we must take the help of those who extend that helping hand in love; we must do the work of self-healing to become "almost like new" on our Life's journeys.

[Paul Bell]

Yip, absolutely it's all down to yourself in the end.

[MomzillaNC]

But… if we're lucky, you get to journey with miracles. My best friend is a miracle. My husband is a miracle. My son is a miracle. I'm a better me because of them.

[Paul Bell]

I'm all for little miracles makes life worth living.

[MomzillaNC]

A quote of my own encapsulates your summation:

“Gratitude opens our eyes to miracles around us. Life's a miracle & a gift. Take every breath in gratitude.” ~MomzillaNC

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree Paul.
"The big cracks had stopped in his own life
He would never be a new road
But for now he was safe to travel over."
We learn life isn't easy and we learn to walk more carefully. Thank you for sharing the excellent poetry my friend.
Coyote

[Paul Bell]

True, always hills to climb and conquer.

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree my friend. I need a long vacation.

[Mrudula Rani]

This is absolutely, heart wrenchingly beautiful, Paul. The course of life never is smooth, especially self neglecting leaves so much damage and needs an endless patching up !

[Paul Bell]

Yeah, life is never smooth, but we get through it somehow.

[Mrudula Rani]

You sound so wonderfully wise!

[Paul Bell]

Part time owl. lol

[Patricia]

nicely done! it is never perfect but who wants perfection, so boring and personally I don't believe it exists. I think this sends a great message to fix what you can and move forward and do it again when it happens again because it will happen again.

[Paul Bell]

Spot on, you're only human, so don't worry about it.

[barleygirl]

This can be one of life's hardest lessons . . . that we are not guaranteed a smooth journey, so why do we get all bent when there are bumps? You do a great job painting an allegory with your extended metaphor of road-patching. Even tho your main message about humans in general is well-received, I can't resist pointing out how, here in the USA, we used to have pretty good roads, but now things are crumbling way faster than anybody is making repairs . . . sad to watch in recent years . . . your poem brought this to mind even more prominently (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Paul Bell]

Yeah, roads are definitely crap here too.
Even new roads are crap.

[NotUsinganymore]

I think we are all broken. Nice poem and comparisons. c:

[Paul Bell]

I think you maybe right.