Analogy Is Your Teacher

Analogy Is Your Teacher

Dogs

I've seen big dogs

and little dogs at play

and fix one angle

on diversity.

The frisky small one,

not aware of its size,

calls on quickness and agility.

The good-willed

big one, tolerant,

used to dominance,

is often bewildered.

The little one nips,

barks and flees.

The big one chases,

catches and smothers-

though not truly-

for the little one

escapes capture

with a hint of complicity

from the big one.

And so it goes

till they're exhausted

and seek rest,

both panting,

at ease

in the other's company.

Their masters,

standing by,

chat amiably

and chuckle,

enjoying

their own time

at play,

practicing diversity.

To Ponder

            1.   Analogies are everywhere we turn. Let’s make good

                  use of them, liven up the pictures of our lives.

            2.   Look hard; dogs, other beings and sights place

                  big meanings and lessons right before us. Turn the

                  scene over. See the freshness.

            3.   It’s fun, great fun, to live this way, learning from

                  almost anything, when we least expect it. What’s the

                  image, the symbol, for you?

            4.   Do you have a dog, been around dogs a lot? Or cats?

                  What have they taught you?

            5.   Sometimes you’re big in life; what have you learned

                  from that? Sometimes you’re small; what about it

                  when that happens?

            6.   Are the dogs’ masters in the accompanying poem

                  learning from being together? What’s your guess?

                  What, possibly?

            7.   Process! Always process!! Turn the noun into a verb.

                  Go ahead. Add thin layers to the bulk of what you’ve

                  just experienced.

© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

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Consider This Underutilized Method

Consider This Underutilized Method

Manners

Columbus Park,

a public landscape gem

of architecture at the

furthest west edge

of Chicago in a section

called Austin, had a winter

sled run, beguiling lagoon,

nine-hole golf course,

and on summer

Sunday afternoons,

a lush green space

tucked away

for lawn bowling.

What an unlikely picture

to me as a young boy,

come upon it unexpectedly—

the men in white shoes

and trousers and

light white sweaters--

playing this genteel game,

surrounded by a blue-collar

neighborhood. I gaped at first,

then settled in on a bench,

drawn still as salt, an observer

to the players

good-natured procedures,

not forgotten to this day,

the conviviality,

the civility

of it all.

To Ponder

            1.   It occurs to me how little we ask questions of others

                  when we truly need to.

            2.   This is in stark contrast to do so to judge, impress, stall

                  or evade.

            3.   Imagine simply asking “Is this OK with you?” or “I think

                  you’ll like this. Do you?“

            4.   Amazing, how a question well-timed or placed can keep

                  us from going astray and win a friend at the same time.

            5.   How about this? “I see you’re very effective. Tell me why

                  you do it that way.”

            6.   Simply listening is the most underutilized way of asking

                  a pertinent question and gaining a satisfying answer.

            7.   In other words, be patient; people often will answer your

                  question in a better way if you’ll wait till they “get there.”

© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too. 

  • Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

  • Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

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See the Light

See the Light

Black

She paints

a black greasy line

down the center

of her forehead

to the tip of her nose,

signifying her difficulty.

Then she lifts her skirt,

takes his blade

and deftly plunges it

into her thigh

at the critical point,

lays down on the concrete

and bleeds to death,

believing to the end,

life should be simpler.

To Ponder

            1.   I ruminate about suicide, that ultimate closing.

            2.   I’ve known directly only one person who took his life. He

                  was CEO of a company you’ve probably heard of.

            3.   I admit I’m way out of my league here, but it seems from

                  what I’ve observed that an unmet expectation wide-of-

                  the-mark is central.

            4.   Sylvia Plath, the famed young poet who took her life at

                  30, is one who put such an expectation into print with

                  “Daddy.”

            5.   To come at life well, we have to be ready to die

                  figuratively to many ideas, not literally for one idea, and

                  live vigorously for a few.

            6.   I’m not referring to instances of supreme courage where,

                  for example, one might die for a cause or some kind of

                  rescue of another.

            7.   See that it’s not the time, or we’ve got it all wrong, or

                  simply life’s unfair, or something else, and we know we

                  have to let it go.

© 2013 Allan Cox, Allan Cox & Associates Inc. All Rights Reserved.
__________________________________________________________

If you enjoy reading this story, you may wish to order WHOA! Are They Glad You’re in Their lives? available on Amazon Kindle and in print edition too. 

  • Kindle Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

  • Print Edition: WHOA! Are They Glad You're in Their Lives?

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