Two worlds have I known along the path of this life -
one of serenity, the other of strife.
The first world I knew was a magical place
of warm smiles and laughter and kind-hearted grace.
Of meadows and tulips, wood shoes and white blouses.
Of bread trails and bonnets and gingerbread houses.
Of blind mice and windmills and Little Jack Horner.
Of Winnie and Tigger and the tree at Pooh Corner.
Of fun-loving pirates and billowing sails.
Of serpents and mermaids and friendly, blue whales.
My young eyes saw the world as a sweet, gentle place
without hatred or killing over nation or race.
There was no better or worse, only different from me
and it made life enticing, a grand mystery!
I remember gazing in wonder, unexamined and pure,
at the indigo sky. Oh, the thoughts it allured!
So many places someday I would see!
So many people to share it with me!
But the wind-spinning freedom which was my young world
grew shrouded in darkness as adult years unfurled.
And the strangest thing is I never noticed peace die.
I just knew it was gone and I didn't know why.
Thus began the long years of searching for answers,
questioning poets, musicians and dancers,
politicians and teachers, gurus and sages,
spending my youth between dusty pages
to recapture a feeling, stolen or lost,
and hold it again, no matter the cost.
Many years have passed now. I've grown old and gray
and I watch the games that my grandchildren play.
I can hardly recall how my youthful heart yearned
and I won't bore you with stories of the lessons I've learned.
But I will tell you this - joy isn't somewhere "out there."
It cannot be studied or found anywhere.
It's something you'll either let in or you won't,
something you give to yourself or you don't.
Do you hear what I'm saying? All the searching's for naught!
All that you need, you've already got.
There will surely be pain. That's life's one guarantee.
But how much we suffer - that's up to you, and to me.
- Mark Rickerby
Author notes
Written October 28th, 2003
In a list
A contest entry
- Epitome of Innocence by elmundopasa1.
450 points, ended May 4, 6 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What did you think
Comments
1 - 25 of 25
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great job. You make it very hard for me to be skeptical about prewrites. excellent. this is what I was looking for. very well done.
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excellent
Mark, this is the first poem of yours I read, and I loved it. I didn't leave a comment then because I thought if I love them all this much I'll get writers cramp for leaving wonderful comments. Having read more now, I do love them all but this one definitely spoke volumes to me.
"And the strangest thing is I never noticed peace die.
I just knew it was gone and I didn't know why."
This made me think of Santa, I remember believing and now I don't, but when did Christmas lose it childhood magic? I don't remember, it just did.
I remember the feeling you'd get when you were lost inside your childhood imagination. I wish I'd realized then that it passed with childhood, I'd have cherished it even more.
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Hey Bex,
Glad you liked this one. It's one of my personal favorites. If you read any more of my poems, you'll find I lament the loss of innocence quite a bit. It's a classic poetic theme, I suppose. It can feel like this world poisons us sometimes. I've become pretty good at regressing, though. I can put in a Rankin-Bass Christmas special and pretty much be 7 again. Of course, my wife would say I'm 7 all the time but that's another story.
Thanks,
Mark
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This is really beautiful. You have taken the concept and expanded upon it in a piece full of wonderful images and great lessons.
"joy isn't somewhere "out there."
Marvelous! -
this is a very sweet poem, very cute. i like the depth and ther perseption of this poem, i feel that it might have a double meaning...it is very good and very well soughtout, i loved the rhyme, great job!!!
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Ah..this was so sweet! And you're right, they're kinda similar, but I loved your rhymes though, very clever and it has a good flow to it too. I felt a bit awkward about my own, since it's a translation
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Wonderful poem. I wish I could say that my childhood was like that but mine was spent trying to forget what had happened to me. I finally did forget as long as I could make myself hurt physically I didn't feel the pain emotionally but now I don't want to forget I want to help others who have been through the same and maybe even save someone from going through what I've been through.....I believe you are right, we have all that we need it's just learning how to make it work for us that is the hard part....I don't know how to get my "happy switch" so to speak to turn on. Well great write and I hope in the end your life really does turn out like this poem....Great job.
~Sharon~ -
I like this poem a lot. You have captured the essence of the differences between childhood and adulthood (and done it with very nice meter and rhyme). Thanks for directing me toward this piece - I am glad I read it.
Scott
merry Christmas, Mark, to you and your family1 -
Love the rhyming. Completely unforced.
"And the strangest thing is I never noticed peace die.
I just knew it was gone and I didn't know why"
For some stupid reason, reminds me of "where have all the flowers gone".
I will be back, and thanks for your comment on the real world!
Jade -
"And the strangest thing is I never noticed peace die.
I just knew it was gone and I didn't know why"
The succession from childhood to adulthood in this write is worded in the most brilliant way...simply said ..with such a message, to me, it could stand on it's own
I'm not sure why those two lines came at me the hardest..perhaps I saw myself going from similar childhood memories then waking up to the way things really are
This is a remarkable work..Another author to add to my fave list..thank you
much love & peace
~Pamela -
Haikumonk,
I'm staying on the sunny side of the street more and more, too. Age should have some benefits, after all! lol
Thanks Asmiati. Nice to hear from you.
Aura, I'll give you exactly fifty years to stop talking to me like that. lol
Maria,
Interesting. I guess the first two lines do stand out a bit and may be a little redundant. I'll think about 86'ing them. Thanks for the tip.
Mark
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Hey Colin,
Thanks very much for the credits you gave me. That's very nice of you. Though to be honest, I still don't know how to use points or what they're all about. I've just been posting and commenting and haven't yet studied all the functions of the site. But this will give me a good reason to learn!
Thanks again. It's always nice to hear from you.
God bless you,
Mark
Edited on Nov 02, 11:13 p.m. because ''. -
This is an amazing poem with soo many great and wonderful things to be learned. You did an awesome job with this one. These lines i think were my favorite:
But I will tell you this - joy isn't somewhere "out there."
It cannot be studied or found anywhere.
It's something you'll either let in or you won't,
something you give to yourself or you don't.
Do you hear what I'm saying? All the searching's for naught!
All that you need, you've already got.
There will surely be pain. That's life's one guarantee.
But how much we suffer - that's up to you, and to me.
I don't know how you do it? Keep up the good work!
in Christ
Colin -
I found you under gypsydreamer,
then I read about haikumonk...
and then I smiled (what else could I do)...
I may never make it to California,
but that's beside the point.
Worlds: it is strange, isn't it, the way children tend to be happy, optimistic (at times), see beauty everywhere, smile even when there is not much to smile about...
So what happens? Are there really two worlds?
One suggestion...would you consider leaving out the first two lines... I enjoyed the read.
Thanks, Maria
Edited on Nov 01, 7:02 because ''. -
excellent
phew...such elegant flow. i love it! Mark you let the words flow like a river,the rhymes are all perfect. the message is simply beautiful. its lovely.
ps-youre good looking too
(cant argue on that 
) hehe
take care,
love,
aura -
amazing
thats wonderful poem i love it you have own style to desbribe your feeling your hearts it sounds so honest i love it thanks for sharing wish you happy always in your days
gaSeL
Edited on Nov 01, 11:04 p.m. because ''. -
Strong poem of contrast......... the innocence of being a child..... locked into the moment..... of the toy or game. It's sad that adults lose that ability...... it's sad there is news...... it's sad the contrast is "play and strife"............ it's sad....... yet I dwell in happiness...............
Nice write....... beautifully done..........
Don -
Thanks Janet,
We think so alike, it scares me sometimes. lol Glad you liked this one. I'm in the process of copying and pasting all your poems into a file to show to my offline friends. I WILL make you famous. Oh, yes!
Thanks Leanne. It's always nice to see you have visited one of my pages.
Symitar,
Exactly. There's an old story about a man who spends his life in poverty then realizes just before he dies of starvation that he has a precious jewel in his coat pocket and it had been there all along. Happiness is like that, I think.
Abe Lincoln said, "People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." But most people (myself included) tend to put it somewhere up the road when some goal has been reached. The problem is when we get there, there will be another "there" further ahead. At some point, we have stop and say, "Dammit, I'm going to be happy right now!" And it takes that kind of righteousness, at least it does for me, to jar myself out of the "someday" mentality and demand a little peace of mind for myself, and from myself. Otherwise, too much small stuff will get in the way. And Lord knows there's always plenty of small stuff.
See ya next time!
Mark -
Mark~~
This is just wonderful, so many things to pull from all that is crammed into this one little poem! Childhood for many is as sweet and simple and innocent as the picture you painted here, but for some the fairy tale is a nightmare. Either being the case, I think we all still long for the feeling this evokes, our "happily ever after" and sugarplum fairies! Life has a way of bringing reality vividly into view when where we are looking is out into the world, but when we turn within we find that the gingerbread kingdom was there all along. I love the line "All that you need, you've already got"....soooo true, so true! The trick is in realizing that you don't look with your eyes, you look with your heart and that your own soul is the wellspring of wisdom. Joy is our natural state of being, we just learn to suffer....and we do it SO well! Happiness is a choice! OK, enough of my philosophy lesson here! LOL! Thank you for sharing this, I think it is absolutely brilliant and very, very well written! I'd expect nothing less from you, dear friend! Love and hugs!
~Janet~
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omg!!...I love this!!...full of warm memories and nostalgia....such wisdom in the closing words too...a beautiful piece of work....leanne xxx
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Nicely put, Mark. Nice to see you moving about a bit in style. I think thats good for us, to stretch and use different formats for our work. We usually light on one that is most comfortable, for me its usually rhyme.. but now and again, sometime just hits me and I go off on a tangent. But i digress.. strong lessons here, funny how we search and search, and we had the answer all along. But then, isn't that the way it should be? The irony of life.. and living it. Much to be found here. Thanks..
~ becky
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Thanks Destiny.
I hope it cheered you up a little. I had one of those days, too. Like my dear wee mother always says, "Some days are diamonds. Some days are stones." I think it's better that way, too. Otherwise, when we have a really great day, what would we have to compare it to?
It's like that Twilight Zone where the guy dies and goes to heaven. He gets everything he wants every day, never loses at anything, just snaps his fingers and everything he wants appears. Then he says to his butler, "I don't like heaven. There's no risk, no gamble, no excitement. Where's the fun in getting everything you want all the time?" And the butler said, "My dear boy, whoever told you this was heaven?"
Sleep well,
Mark -
Oh and Thank You!! LoL I do like it.
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Hiya Mark, This is a very honest piece. I wish I could say I relate to the childhood part but sadly I cannot. Your poem here is incredibly beautiful and oh so true. The last part spoke to me of hope. Great job.
~*Destiny*~
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