Search for the words
exertion with restraint
and delve into medical mishmash.
“serotenergic” “biotechnology”
“arrhythomogenic” “anomalies”…
For normal folk talking,
for the down-to-earth
they seem not to fit,
to clash, to speak at odds,
running off different directions.
Exertion is effort – physical, mental.
Restraint means chains, control,
an action. They’re opposites,
aren’t they? And what I need here
is exertion. I’ve got to get this written,
or some other deadline is here,
something that must be done,
but to ditch it all, to start over?
Why was I drawn to this title?
Why did I write it down so long ago,
send it to me to write about,
why did I choose it for this poem?
I must abandon it. But no. I must not.
Wait. Look around. Is there a wind,
one so powerful it breaks mountains?
Wait. Is there an earthquake
shattering the whole sphere?
Is there a great fire? That’s exertion!
But the answer is not in the exertion.
The answer is in the waiting,
in the restraint, in the still small voice
that comes with the answer.

 

 

¹¹ And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but theLord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

¹² And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

¹³ And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? ~ 1 Kings 19, KJV