Polar Opposites

It's been one of those strange Decembers. I spent a little bit of time a few weeks ago (the day after the Victorian state election) reflecting on how things were going with my current batch of mentees to work out whether I would finish up any of the arrangements. While I decided to persevere, it was line ball for one I have been mentoring in creative writing. It has subsequently been paused for other reasons but this "on the line feeling" made it much easier to let go.

I am not sure if I was in the right frame of mind to think about the year that's been and the year to come. The recent passing of a younger friend distracted me from working through the exercise systematically. And I found myself writing an observational piece (in a third person voice) as my stocktake notes that sparked a raft of creative writing ideas for further stories and poetry. 

What is it about sadness that opens the floodgates?

I converted one of those ideas into a poem today, hoping it would wash away my melancholy.  The theme for this piece was inspired by several conversations with that particular mentee. This mentee and I are as different as two people could possibly be other than our mutual interest in being inspired by writing and trying to make some impact through work to address the adverse risks of climate change.  Interesting that even when folks are at each end of a spectrum, a chasm between them, they can still find common ground.  Anyway, the poem I wrote - called Polar Opposites - is reproduced below.

Cats vs Dogs

Her feline ways preen enthusiastic indifference.

His canine spirit soaks in unconditional affirmation.

Both demanding non-interest and attention 

respectively and collectively in unrelenting waves.

Open vs Closed

She is open and direct and brutally honest

with every word that spills from her mouth unfiltered.

He is a closed book still in its original wrapping

and not a single page readable written in invisible ink.

Words vs Music

Both relate to the senses stroking sound of notes

words for the soul or music to the ears

penning toner and dancing fingers as mighty as each other

in releasing avalanches of emotional narratives.

Conceptual vs Analytical

Her imagination epitomises Renaissance Impressionism

a dreamscape so vivid day and night second by second.

He barely remembers dreaming at all 

and life is a mathematical construct structured black and white.

Water vs Land

She whimsically floats and swims delighted by birds and sea life

slips and slides across beach sand dunes searching for shells.

He canters and sprints across mountain terrain

a man on a mission competing with himself to be better.

Darkness vs Light

Both relate to the ups and downs 

of the planet around them

and the humanity under their skin and flowing through their veins

clutching at gratitude to fuel some semblance of optimism.

What if vs What is

Despite being poles apart neither accept the disintegrating world as it is

and long to build something better and make a difference

strive for what could be for future generations 

a planet’s life sustained re-sown to grow and thrive anew.