Hey there. Hope all is well with you. Not too much doing in my little world.
I got a couple rejections this week and also the news that my story “Amanuensis” was a finalist in the Portable Story “moment of truth” series. Congrats go to Matthew B. Kelley whose story “Daddy’s Record” will be recorded and posted on the site. The next call is for writing on “fear.” Maybe you have something to submit?
“There are two kinds of people in this world” is a phrase you hear often. I don’t know if that statement is true; I tend to see lots of exceptions and gray areas. I have touched on this theme slightly in one of my poems “Taxonomy,” which I shared in a post last year. (You can read it here.)
But regardless of whether there are two kinds of people, I found this poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox to remain timely even today (except maybe for use of the word “ween,” which is not in current vocabulary). Sometimes I think my next project should be a collection of public domain poems that still are relevant.
Hope this post makes you think; maybe you’ve a poem you want to write about the two (or more) kinds of people in the world.
Peace, love, and solace
Which are You?
THERE are two kinds of people on earth to-day;
Just two kinds of people, no more, I say.
Not the sinner and saint, for it’s well understood,
The good are half bad, and the bad are half good.
Not the rich and the poor, for to rate a man’s wealth,
You must first know the state of his conscience and health.
Not the humble and proud, for in life’s little span,
Who puts on vain airs, is not counted a man.
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying years
Bring each man his laughter and each man his tears.
No; the two kinds of people on earth I mean,
Are the people who lift, and the people who lean.
Wherever you go, you will find the earth’s masses,
Are always divided in just these two classes.
And oddly enough, you will find too, I ween,
There’s only one lifter to twenty who lean.
In which class are you? Are you easing the load,
Of overtaxed lifters, who toil down the road?
Or are you a leaner, who lets others share
Your portion of labor, and worry and care?
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Aug
17
Look into your heart — Don’t read the comments
by Ellen Beals
Hey there. I haven’t posted in a while. Chalk it up to personal issues and being down in the dumps about the state our our nation. What’s there to say that hasn’t already been said?
I talked with a wise friend the other day and she told me not to be depressed by what happened in Charlottesville but instead to think of it as a turning point. This is the time that it is clear to see what our current president stands for, and that even those who supported him are looking into their hearts and deciding if this man truly represents them and America. So I ask us all to look into our hearts.
Last Tuesday I went to Millennium Park for a free concert put on by Broadway in Chicago. It was restorative, at least that was how one passenger in my car felt. But then she read a unrelated local news story on her phone and read the comments that followed where snark prevailed. So I ask you not to read the comments; that’s where the trolls live.
Peace, love, and solace
Ceiling at the Monroe Building © Ellen Wade Beals, 2017
Contrast © Ellen Wade Beals, 2017
All the angles © Ellen Wade Beals, 2017
Humans and Bean © Ellen Wade Beals, 2017
Tags: Broadway in Chicago, Chicago, Cloud Gate, Digging Through The Fat, Don't read the comments, Ellen Wade Beals, Look into your heart, Millennium Park, Nation at a turning point, Photography, Pritzker Pavillion, Solace, Solace in So Many Words, Weighed Words