There was a prince who wanted a certain magic gem,
the more he wanted it, the farther it was from him.
Believing it lost among a cargo in the sea,
he became distraught, for losing his desire's key.
He searched but found no other treasures could compare,
and dwelling on lost fortune, he sank in deep despair.
A year, then two, he plumbed the deepest melancholy,
reached the end of misery, and knew desire was folly.
He renounced all craving for this enchanted jewel,
for wanting only that was torture long and cruel.
He turned his mind instead to ruling land and folk,
never to dream of magic and its leaden yoke.
One day a pearl diver brought the prince that stone;
he laughed long and loud upon his marble throne.
Author notes
Allegory: Wanting forbids having, if we have it, we don't want it.
Losing love, the only thing you want is that love to return.
No other can take its place, the realization of loss is the only reality.
Lost love is gone forever - but as time goes on, things change.
You find you don't need it, don't even want it, and let go all ties.
Then it comes back, and you are not there anymore.
Thank you for reading.
Comments
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Aw, Margaret, I missed this one. Wayne Dyer wrote in his book, There is a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem, that we get what we really, really want, and what we really, reallly, really, really DON'T want. I think his point was focus, which of course is the precursor to action.
A friend of mine has a very beautiful amythest ring which was given to him by his brother. Upon visiting a friend one day, the stone fell out of the ring into the yard. They could not find it. Every time he would pass her house, he'd stop and do another search, to no avail. Three years passed. One day he got a call from his daughter. She said Grandmother had come to her in a dream and told her that he would get stone back. But anything can happen in a dream, right?
One day while he was reading, his friend called and asked him to come over right away. Having forgotten about the lost gem, he put away his book and went. When he got there, she motioned to the back yard, where something was flashing fire in the sunshine. "Take a closer look," she said. It was the amethyst lying on a dandelion leaf that had pushed up into the light.
He tells me that nothing is every truly lost. I think he's right. Thank you for making me remember, Margaret.
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Dear Karen, thank you for this hopeful story. Gibran said, "if you love them, let them go." People must decide for themselves; there is nothing worse than coercion. It is still early days, and things appear differently after some time has passed.
Many blessings, sweetheart!
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I love that beautiful story-poem filled with wisdom !
it invites us to fully embrace our daily tasks, no matter how humble they might seem - everybody has a "kingdom" to rule over - and to just give up the quest for "extraordinariness" ...
coming down from the mountain is so much more relaxing than climbing it ...
a masterpiece !
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Thank you Marion for your appreciation.
Indeed, we do have things which need our attention, and efforts which give more satisfaction than wishing after things that seem to get farther away the more we want them. As Rahad said, wanting is not having. Conversely, what we have is not what we want! There is a mental trick in contentment and humour in recognising our errors.
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Ah, yes...
When we "want" we are telling ourselves we don't have. When we stop to see, we discover many treasures. Beauty words full of beautiful meaning.
"Rrince Gautma looked and looked and looked... and when he stopped he saw."
Shine ever brighly,
Rahad
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An allegory filled with wisdom ...
and such I expected when I clicked on this poem. The more adamant we are about our dreams, the more elusive they may become. Until, finally, when we turn away, VOILA! Realization.
This is much the same with poetry, not so? How evasive our Muses may be often!
Beautiful work.
Love
Myra
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A really interesting poem which actually reminds me of one of the poems which made me create this contest (the poems 'Pearl' a medieval dream narrative, perhaps you've even read it?). But this poem can be read in many different ways and I think thats the wonder of allegory. I took the gem to be love but I suspect there could be other readings. A well written poem although perhaps a few lines could do with editting to improve the flow a little. Good luck in the contest.
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I think this is fully true. Sounds like allot of us in this world. The people who have lost the knowledge of magic, or the people who just don't care for it no more, and we need magic.
I love this poem because of the descriptive nature to it. Word play is a must for me, and you mastered all images. Your poem is brain food!
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