TO MARKET I GO… (Reap what you sow)
“You reap what you sow”
they lament, they chant over and over again.
I did, I tilled the soil, I chose the seeds,
poured jugs of water over fertile plain, rock, sand; all-terrain.
I walked for miles roundabout in patches of garden,
I bent over, slipped, fell down,
pulled myself up, semi-propped;
so much work in the beginning.
I jerked up charming obnoxious weeds
so my plants could grow free.
I endured the elements and all the havoc
it brazenly wreaked upon me.
I shriveled like my crops some long days,
not sure how to reclaim my posture,
to stand up again, to indulge in the sun’s rays.
I found myself cursing aloud; madly I complained.
Softly, I cried; forever I was afraid.
What if I harness all this labor
but I’m not right for market?
What if I make it to the trading place
but all my fruit and flowers are outright rejected?
What if…
What if I just do my endeavor best
And I’m pleased within\with my HARVEST?
What if I provide enough nourishment
to enrich my body, to stock bushels of encouragement?
What if I have enough
to save some aside
to give weary travelers in need,
to further their own lifelines.
To reap what I sow
takes countless decisions of what to grow.
Only at the feast (or the famine), will I know
what my harvest is worth; what I take in tow
Jo Anna Bella
Poet at Heart
(c) 2003
Jo Anna:
Beautiful!
This is the experience of anyone who has ever worked, struggled, striven to reach a distant goal that we suspect may be out of reach. We meet our own doubts. We encounter obstacles. We have to confront the possiblity that all our work may be for nothing.
But then--the tone and meaning of the poem shifts. Somehow, the insight comes that lets us make peace with our efforts. We find a way to be satisfied and nourished simply by the effort.
The answer to the question: 'WHAT IF i JUST DO MY ENDEAVOR BEST?" is--you receive the gift if inner peace and satisfaction.
The last four lines sum it all up--we may not know for months, years, decades --or ever--what the results of our work will bring.
But, at least, we are "pleased within". We have found peace.
And maybe, that is what life is all about.