Mirage by Barbara LaTondresse
Is the glass half empty or half full?
Or perhaps there is no glass at all.
Only the illusion of the glass.
Are we as a nation that needy?
Are we lost in a desert of our own making?
Are we another Ozymandias reborn in the good old USofA?
All that remains of this ‘king of kings’ is a broken statue to former glory and the empty words full of loss.
“Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair.”
Great rulers and their kingdoms will fall, dust to dust.
Ozymandias-like we strut our transient power unaware
our desperate need of Eternal water else
we become another thirsty relic in the sand.
That a drop of water would
quench thirst in this dry,
parched land is a pipedream.
Oh, to get the cool water drawn from the well that shall never run dry; Eternal Water drawn from the Eternal Well.
King of kings and Lord of lords!
Eternal Power. Eternal Spring.
When?
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Background Notes
“Ozymandias” is the title of two related sonnets published in 1818. The first was written by the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and was published in the 11 January 1818 issue of The Examiner of London. The poem was included the following year in Shelley’s collection Rosalind and Helen, A Modern Eclogue; with Other Poems, and in a posthumous compilation of his poems published in 1826. Shelley’s most famous work, “Ozymandias” is frequently anthologized. (from wiKi)
Read Shelley ’s short sonnet below to gain essential background to understand my poem Mirage.How does this fit with what’s NORMAL ?
What do you think the NEW NOMRAL wlll be?
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Ozymandias By Percy Bysshe Shelley – 1792-1822\
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far
**This poem is in the public domain.
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The photo is courtesy of: https://coldbrookgallery.wordpress.com/
Night Lights and Morning Joys 
So poignant a reflection on our country and times. I’ll need to ponder more
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Thank you Barb. I enjoyed this! Have a good memorial day 🌹 God’s peace, Debbie
On Sat, May 23, 2020, 3:49 PM Night Lights and Morning Joys wrote:
> latondresseb posted: “Mirage by Barbara LaTondresse Is the glass half > empty or half full? Or perhaps there is no glass at all. Only the illusion > of the glass. Are we as a nation that needy? Are we lost in a desert of our > own making? Are we another Ozymandias reborn ” >
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HI Barb,
Great poem, Barb. It’s all of that. The more we have taken our eyes away from the Lord, the worse it has gotten. Sadly, most still do not see what has happened. Instead of self-reflection or reading “the good stuff”, they are binge-watching “Breaking Bad”. The great big televisions and obsessive watching reminds me of Fahrenheit 451. I’m not good at memorizing and am wondering which small book I should start memorizing. There are good people who are or wanting to do good works and I thank God for them. It gives me some hope for the human race, but there are so many others who are fake and full of self-interest and completely disconnected from the suffering of others during the pandemic even though they claim to care. God knows the truth! And with all the craziness surrounding us these days, it is such a blessing to have watched the birds gathering product for their nests, and now they are gathering worms to feed their babies and the lilies of the valley are blooming. We can sit in a chair on our balconies or patios and watch God’s never-failing creation change daily before our eyes. We’re like toddlers seeing the beauty in a tiny rock or blade of grass.
How are you holding up in the pandemic? I’m glad you and Andre have each other! I’m glad I have my dog, Morgan, who was found to have a cancerous tumor last December and when I took her back four months later, the tumor was gone. Grateful!
I staged 3-7th Ave. No., about 10 days ago and it sold the first day with two offers. Very nice development, but the stairs nearly killed me. Love your condo and your building!
I figure you are Zooming with your grandchildren. So cute! Loved the recent lawn-mowing post!
Work has been crazy busy, so I am eternally grateful for the work and happy for the buyers, sellers and realtor. I just turned 66, so in another four years and 6 months I can retire. It sounds like a million years from now, but time flies even when you’re not having fun. Speaking of fun, when I think of Althea Lane, I remember the beautiful days living there and can see us all walking through the neighborhood, tending to our gardens and partying at a Pink Flamingo event. It was my path to fully integrating God and Jesus into my life. You were there and the Christmas mailer from Church of the Cross was there. Praise God!
Love you guys!!!!!
Cindy
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