Black and white, bitter and sweet – these pairs of words can show the contrast of our experiences in life. Most of the time, we are antagonized by the simple matters that we don’t intend to happen. Like any other antonyms, the divergence of our experience is inexplicably all about meaning the reverse of the other.
Following my previous blog posts on my first poem [winged], and my childhood memories [HIVE HORIZONS 05], I would like to take you to another #HIVEHORIZONS journey on another poem that I wrote. It explicates a story of opposites but tells a thought that matters.
Was and Is
It was ‘easy’ to hurdle way back
even to afford some midnight slack.
O, ‘tough’ it is for now (a struggle),
careful: an-hour-nap can be a-semester-of-trouble.
I do know that most of us can relate when I say that our younger school days when we were still in primary school or in high school, were fun and laid-back. It may not feel like it was easy back then, but now seeing it in a distance; on the perspective of a college student, it was pure ignorance of how complicated it would become. We grow to be teenagers and young adults, bearing into fruit the maturity of ourselves: learning from the experiences, developed through time.
My university life is still about learning and discovering myself, but the difference now is that I become someone bigger than my past self. I became a better version of myself; ready to take a role in society. Reminiscing the simplicity of the obstacles before was uplifting because I know that even how hard the problem may seem to be, I can go through it all once again.
‘then’ were weekends spent in malls
and karaoke nights in sound-proof walls.
‘now’ are days lived in a quartered cell,
all longing for the normal to dwell.
Who doesn’t miss the old normal? The days and nights we spent doing what we love with our friends and family have now become an important memory that we all hold to be happening soon again. We cling our minds into hoping that tomorrow will be a day similar to the way it used to be. Our only hope, for now, is to be one with the solution, which is simply done by obedience and discipline to protocols from authorities.
The post-pandemic list I wrote in my HIVE HORIZONS 06 post was an exposition of how I very much look forward on the better days to come. It won’t be too soon, but I know that it would be a whole lot different memory worth anticipating.
'the old’ recalls the days of his youth;
undisturbed and free; living realties of truth.
‘the young’ is no place to be big and proud,
yet the world asserts them as “the future” aloud.
I sometimes don’t understand the array of thinking coming from all ages and generations. At some point, the younger ones fail to connect with what can be learned from the elder ones, who likewise tend to misunderstand the novel ideas of the young generation. It is like we are all going parallel with our stance and take on a subject that interests everyone. While the wisest of the older generation labels the youth as the future, at the same time, the same people shut their doors into allowing the voice of the youth to be heard. It does not matter whether you are left or right, for even the radicals and conservatives intersect at a common point of understanding; so, why won’t it be the same?
I believe that diversity is beauty. We now live in a world where everyone is encouraged to speak and express. The best thing about having older people and younger ones in one place is that the discussion of societal interests is shared and educated, and at the same time, has matured and developed. We no longer have to be scared and ignorant of something that has already happened because we are now learned to adapt to the sign of the times. At the and of the day, we are all social beings in the same universe – counting on each other to evolve and improve.
often, I see ‘the wrong’ humiliated,
hated by those who think they’re ‘educated’.
never, I believe ‘the right’ comes tainted
it is rather silent yet fervently painted.
Even during Jesus’ time, the chief priests and Pharisees who were regarded as the experts and expositors in the society became antagonists of Jesus’ teachings. These are pretense people who thought they hold power against lesser men or the so-called ‘elite’ who authored their own standards and morals. The concept of justice is deliberately only for the ones that can afford, but with how things are now, gradually, the balance is underway to achieve the equilibrium.
While the voice of the people has become visible especially in third world countries, it is undeniable that some systems have still remained stuck in the old corrupt ways. The difference now emanates from the strength in numbers. The populating world has awakened on some degree; not only to subjects revolving around the notion of change and equality but also on the impression of acceptance. Indeed, there are still a lot of disproportions and disparity that remains unseen and unheard.
the ‘was’ holds (indeed) the hurtful past;
scars concealed in an unsoiled cast.
whilst the ‘is’ bears the hopeful present,
fervid yet gentle and quiescent.
The challenge of our life is not only to survive and adapt but also to progress and advance. Humanity has been around for more than a thousand years since recorded history. And the scars that left us thinking up until today are actually fragments of our past.
The innumerable stories of our history allowed us to be rational and successful on our plans however, despite the achievements that we so enjoy in the present, immeasurable accounts of inhuman and flagitious stories had also unfolded right into our history, of which we strive to learn and correct. Undoubtedly, all of these together form a compound definition of the present: constructive, uncontested, and significant.
POST SCRIPTUM
The contrasts, reverses, and opposites are exactly what makes life more interesting. Like the concept of the ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang, even seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world. Their relationship is intertwined and coexistent, thus should be seen as a dynamic balance that complements each other rather than opposing.
There can be tons of antonyms to describe anything; from our personal experience to any sort of societal matter. The best thing that I can pick up from composing this poem is that I can think freely and go on to add more. Each stanza is limited to one or two contrasting subjects but can contain more if you’d like.
Feel free to add your own stanza on the comments below! No rhyme rules, just your thoughts.
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ありがとうございました !