The spring weather intoxicates me. The air feels crisp and vibrantly alive. The birds seem like they are singing just to me. Last year, I was too lethargic to do my yard work. Getting through the day took all the energy I had. This year I am beside myself with excitement. As when I was 5 years old, I don’t wanna come inside.
Health makes the difference between living heaven and living hell. For me, a few bites of the wrong foods can take me from this kind of divine rapture to dark despair. It’s an obvious bad bargain.
I posted a poem about it last week. I wrote the poem in part to anchor my intention to be impeccable about doing the things that cultivate life. Of course, moments after it went out, I wanted to revise it.
Well, here’s my do-over of:
Dancing with the Devil.
Oops. I just danced with the devil!
Uh oh! I ate from his plate!
Whoa! Did I make a bad bargain!
Yikes! I keep tempting fate!
Gosh! I gave in to temptation!
Ignoring hard lessons I learned!
Yeah, right, like this time would be different!
Ouch! I keep getting burned!
Oh no! I pretended a nibble
of poison would do me no harm.
Shoot! I let sweet temptation
disable my danger alarm!
Oops. I just danced with the devil
whose lessons are sharp and severe.
Lord, help me collect my diploma!
and say, “Thanks. I’ll take it from here.”
If you revisit the original, you’ll see the confessions are in the form of questions. The poem asks why I do these things at every turn. This version is more human and less conceptual. Same idea but different tone. Very different tone.
And yay! I wrote a poem that is helping me make life-giving choices.
Woo Hoo! I am dancing with life. So far so good…
I hope you enjoyed the original and like the revision.