Tram lines

Lying to himself had been too easy for too long. He looked at his hands: so like his grandfather's, restless in their strength, eager to hew and saw. He wiggled his tongue: so like his father's, shy until loosened by alcohol. Without a mirror he still knew his face to be kind and forgiving like his mother's, despite his square jaw. Since achieving a pretence of independence he had thought himself a self-made man, springing whole out of his own head like an insanely incestuous Athena. Now he realised that 'to discover yourself' means that you already exist -- he had been on tram lines the whole time. He had followed his passions, forgetting that his passions were in his heart to begin with. "I was a piece of marble," he said to himself, whisky helping him talk. "And in it I found the soul of the material, the shape that was always meant to be expressed." Perhaps this is self-made enough, he thought. And then he felt shame, for other hands had worked on that marble, and he had belittled them for touching him.

Reviews

[emmajoy]

We are what we are, flaws and all and, it's the flaws that make us human, whether self.inflicted or adorned by the world in which we live. Surely? Whether we live alone or with others, thought will fly us into another place and whatever wholeness or purity we lean towards will slowly, slowly bend. It's life, not guilt.

Your writing pushes the reader.reviewer onto another level, that's always so very welcome.

[TLK]

Thank you for being willing to be 'pushed' -- it's this kind of acceptance that makes me want to keep writing.

[Samuel Jack]

I really enjoyed the inner dialogue of this piece, as a man it's hard to admit help even from yourself, and to admit others played a part in building the person you are is very difficult. It is like your most precious creation, your own ego.
Hope that was good enough for you, I must say I was a bit intimidated by your about thingy, where you mentioned naff reviews. Perhaps you can help me become a more accomplished reviewer. I have been writing for four months now. I'll review more of your stuff as I enjoy it.

[Marie Anzalone]

Beautiful introspection piece. The self-made man is a myth typically inflicted upon us by points of view too narrow to see beyond the Tram lines of their own lives. They see only only the shining set of tracks; the rest of us see connecting lines, swtiches, signals, and workers on those tracks. Sometimes it takes us a while to come around, but we get there eventually. There is a quote atributed to Pete Seeger, something I will have to paraphrase [badly] because I only heard it spoken aloud once.

"Love without wisdom and compassion is vapid and blind, like blind ptriotism. Wisdom without love and compassion is self-serving, like scientific eugenics. Compassion without wisdom and love is saccharine and weak and does not allow for forward progress." His point was that all three things had to be present in some amount in a man's life, in his community, his society, etc. They are the checks and balances for a life well-lived.

[TLK]

Excellent quote: I'm looking for it now.

[TLK]

I found something a little similar here: http://www.peteseeger.net/Incompleat%20Love%20Songs.htm

[Marie Anzalone]

YES!
and can I say I also loved, "Thou shalt not commit nincompoopery?"

[Ed Hart]

(self) confession is best for the soul