.JPG)
Impatience:
impatience is a virtue.
Patience is for nice guys (hurt)
or sociopaths (who hurt you).
Impatience means being driven –
Not waiting for a clear day, a tail
Wind, “grace”: that's not living.
Living comes in cutting off,
rending
The tendons between you – you and
Everything dead, dying, ending.
Like a girl – who doesn't call
back?
Might be nice. Doesn't matter
While you hang, stiff, and crack.
Or some friends – coming over late,
If at all? Could be friends, but they
Haven't been today: don't wait.
Or that song you once loved, that high weep
That sounds now like a noise, like a
stupid
Wish? It IS, for it seems:
Daybreak, sunset, night: true, true,
true
Inside a refractive sky. Your eye is
A funnel this life is running through …
Clogged up too long in its while.
Tear off those bands from your patient
cheeks and
smile, broad channel.
And
smile.
Line 22: “while” used to have another common meaning {to fill up the time} – still hanging around vestigially in the phrase “while away [the hours, the day, one's life, etc.]” – i.e., to pass time idly. That's the dual-meaning I was hoping to evoke with that line: the first, a simple valuative judgment (the funnel of my perception/experience has been clogged for too long a {while}); the second, an explanation of that clog (by {whiling away} my time on hopes and unfounded expectations, I have been clogging the funnel of my perception/experience).
ReplyDelete“While away vs. wile away
The phrase meaning to pass time idly is while away. It is older and more logical than wile away. But because the second phrase occurs so frequently, it is now included in many dictionaries.
The OED has instances of while away going back to the early 18th century. The phrase employs a now archaic sense of while—namely, to fill up the time. Today, while is used only as a noun or conjunction (except in while away). And because we’re not used to seeing while used as a verb, it’s easy to assume that wile away is the correct phrase.
But wile is mainly a noun—meaning (1) trickery, cunning; (2) a disarming or seductive manner; (3) or a trick intended to deceive—and it’s occasionally used as a verb meaning to influence by wile. None of these definitions has anything to do with idly passing time, so wile away doesn’t make logical sense.”
(from <>, 28 February 2013 – 12:52am)
* Thanks to Jessica (man on bench – Big Bear), David (candles), Megan (child impromptu yoga), Julie (angry man on wall & cloud formations), and Kara (ocean hair – Laos) for making this collage full.
ReplyDeleteThe first line is what drew me into this poem. “Impatience is a virtue.” At first I thought this sounded correct, and then after reading it over in my mind again I realized it was a spin off from the cliché saying, and not the real saying. My parents always tell me, that “patience is a virtue” and that I need to “be more patient!” And I always thought why? I have things to do and time is precious, I do not like sitting around waiting for things to happen to me, I like to get them done. As I read the line that says, “Your eye is a funnel that life is running through,” and as I sit in my room and wait, I feel like I am being called to action. I feel like this poem is telling me to get off my butt and attack life head on, not just sit here and let it happen to me. I really like the spacing and structure of the poem, I find myself reading it aloud taking large breaks between words and then placing much emphasis on the word after the long break. It helps me to better understand the connotation of the lines. I am having trouble interpreting the last stanza and was wondering if you could tell me what the metaphor you are using means? I love the multiple examples you give of people waiting and being patient, and how they all relate to the first lines that “Impatience is a virtue.” And lastly, I love the way you ended the poem. After the aggressive lines, telling a person to be impatient and to live life to its fullest. The speaker gives a simple reminder, “And smile.” I think that the two messages that you send throughout the poem are two that I try to live my by, which is why I was so attracted to this poem? I also have one more question though, How does the collage at the top relate to the poem?
ReplyDeleteKara E.
In the last stanza, I'm drawing from two images in the poem:
ReplyDelete1) the tendons that need breaking, and
2) the funnel that channels life into us.
1) ... we think of tendons as cords in the body, connecting muscle to bone, but more broadly they are any binding strand, so here I am saying that the tendons of "patience" hold down our cheeks (keep them from going up), and
2) ... that this heavy sag obstructs our funnel, narrows the passage (the channel) through which we experience everything. so,
... break off those bands & open up that channel. Smile. Feel the world coming in.
Glad you liked it, Kara ;)
Oh right, and the image.
Delete3-step visual instruction manual:
> (man sitting on a bench) Find your fire.
> (child standing) Use that fire to compel you forward.
> (woman full of sea & sky) Relish everything that comes through (and that you move through).
This poem is so true and can relate to the lives of so many of us. Finding the balance between patience and impatience in our lives is a struggle we are constantly faced with. Being patient is wanting something and being willing to endure the time it takes for it to happen. At the same time, you need to know when enough is enough, and this can be known as impatience. If you want to be happy, you can't sit around and expect happiness to magically come to you. Sometimes, you have to take the initiative to take control over your own life, and make it the life you want to live. As you said in your previous comment, the "tendons of patience" can keep you from finding happiness. You're the only one standing in the way of what you want. This poem emphasizes the importance of impatience and challenges the negative characteristics it is usually associated with. Thank you for the poem. It's beautifully written, and the collage expresses the process of using impatience in your life to do what's best for you.
ReplyDeleteIsabella O.
I often wonder if I wait long enough that things will turn out the way I want them too. I say to myself, "this just isn't the right moment" and then think to myself, "well, when is there a right moment?" I see in life that there are so many opportunities that people pass by because they think they are not ready for a new step because it seems scary or they talk themselves out of it because they argue it isn't the right time. Throughout my life, I've moved many times and have learned that seizing the moment (no matter how cliche that sounds) is what ultimately matters in the end. Living with regret is one of the hardest things to do. There is no use in waiting, wishing, or hoping for things that are in your grasp if only you to reach for them.
ReplyDeleteI love the format of this poem. It makes me feel as if I am being pulled along in a progressive flow of water but every now and then I am caught at some points in some blockage or brambles. I see this format as a way to show how patience leads to hesitation and makes us pause and think until we are swept up into another tide of action, points where we give in to our desires and don't let anything stop us.
The imagery of your poem gives me the impression that patience is sometimes an excuse for not knowing what you want. Sometimes we sit around wishing for things to happen and say to ourselves that they will happen in their own time. The line " Impatience means being driven –/Not waiting for a clear day, a tail/
Wind, “grace”: that's not living" conveys this to me. We become most impatient when we realize what we want most is nearly within our grasp. When I read your poem I feel the need to act and not wait anymore. I love your last stanza because it emphasizes how patience sometimes affects our happiness. It constricts us and our smiles, our potential to be perfectly content. It is, as you say, as if our life is "clogged up" with allowing our dreams to fester and not be fulfilled. The only thing that holds us back from reaching happiness is our willingness to wait for it to come to us.
Lauren A.
In the first stanza, I absolutely love the way you utilize the parentheses in the third and fourth lines. The third line insinuates that the men who are patient are the ones who are usually hurt or destroyed in the end. During the first read, I completely disagreed with this statement. However, as I read it a third and fourth time, I began to realize how true this clause is. The individuals who simply sit around and wait for things to happen reap little reward and will ultimately be hurt by the go-getters. When you state, “Living comes in cutting off, rending the tendons…” (8) the format of this line truly encapsulates the notion of slicing something off, in this case, the “dead” or what I think patient, parts of one’s life. The dramatic space between “off” and “rending” makes me visualize a knife slicing that specific line. I love how you emphasize the importance of not letting time slip through your finger-tips. I think it is a fairly universal feeling when you reach out for tangible relationships but these people do not reciprocate and figuratively disintegrate from your life. Lines 11 through 19 demonstrate just that; sentiments that you should not wait around and be patient, you need to be impatient to seize all opportunities. Throughout these lines, the dramatic use of the dash (nearly parallel construction amongst stanzas) makes the reader feel like they are having a quasi-conversation with themselves. As I read these lines a second time, the more they felt like my own personal ideas and outlooks. That is a true sign of powerful poetry. As I read the last stanza, I imagined the levies breaking during Katrina, resulting in immense flooding and water currents. This is what I envision when I read your stanza about opening the channels and letting impatience consume patience itself. In order to be impatient, it is important to remove all patient aspects from your life. This poem was dynamic, powerful, and interesting. Before reading this poem, I always valued patience, but now I am able to see the benefits of leading an impatient life and making things happen. Your use of interesting and evocative syntax and construction really emphasize the virtue of being impatient and making rapid decisions.
ReplyDeleteAva K.
Patience is important (it correlates with quality work, flexibility, and understanding). But a little bit of bold, driven impatience is what makes it sustainable.
DeleteI think, anyway ;)
I thoroughly enjoyed this poem not only for its relatability stated by Isabella, but also for the simplicity of the message. The events you describe throughout the poem are very relatable to a teenage girl, like myself, who is striving to find a balance between patience and impatience. I am still learning through experience when to follow my heart and act on my feelings, or when to follow my head and do what I know I should do. When to risk things and when to take the safe route. I have learned throughout the short time I have been alive that life is too precious to waste time thinking about all of the consequences and the ] possibility of failure in every decision I make. Although it is important to make a rational decision (employ a small sense of patience), it is even more important to never regret missed opportunities in life and simply take advantage of every moment.
ReplyDeleteI was especially moved by your last stanza,
"Clogged up too long in its while.
Tear off those bands from your patient
cheeks and
smile, broad channel.
And smile."
These lines relate to and emphasize what I have constantly been told by my parents throughout my lifetime. I immediately related the line "Tear off those bands from your patient cheeks and smile" to when my parents tell me to simply "Rip off the bandaid because the initial hurt will be over in a second and better things will come after." Both of these phrases teach me that a risk or moment of impatience is needed in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel or see something overall positive in life. Nothing extremely good will come unless I take the leap of faith and risk getting hurt. Although patience is important, impatience is the true virtue.
Thanks so much for the poem! I also love the various emotions depicted in the collage. Very well written and drawn!
Nicole R.
This poem is giving a perfect example of how today, we are finding it harder and harder to accept the cliche saying that "patience is a virtue". With increasing access to technology/revolution of social media, many of us are getting used to instant gratification- googling the answer, buying anything with the click of of a mouse, being able to use a digital map etc. I don't think most people believe sitting and waiting is a good trait. Instead, many think that it is time to seize the day and go after our dreams and desires. The rapid pace of the fourth and fifth stanzas emulate this idea and emphasize that the speaker does not want to be patient and dwell on a question, insecurity, or unsure thought. I do have a question about the second stanza. When the speaker talks about living coming from breaking away from things, do you mean that when you have less in your life you can appreciate it easier, that things clutter your happiness, or that it is easier to find happiness when you leave what makes you feel comfortable? I really enjoyed this poem
ReplyDeleteBreaking away from dead/dying/ending things means that if circumstances are not feeding your motivation and inspiration, then they're not worth clinging to. It's that ancient Buddhist notion of nonattachment, of accepting the interconnectedness and impermanence of things, leading to quiecence. (except here it's leading to a purity of motion and momentum: the yin to quiecence's yang)
DeleteJust as other have mentioned, the first line of the poem drew me in immediately. It took me three lines to realize that it was the opposite of the cliche "patience is a virtue". Once realized, the meaning of the poem became conspicuous and I focused my attention on the devices used to convey this meaning. What particularly stood out to me was the structure of the poem. At first the abrupt spacing made me stop and read the poem with patience. It wasn't until the spacing in "The tendons between you – you and" that the structure of the poem gave me an anxious feeling. It created the sense that I was being forced to take my time even though I was eager to read ahead. To me it represented the common expectation of patience in society. Drive, passion, and determination are often referred to as impatience. The structure throughout the poem powerfully demonstrated opposition to this misconception. The collage added an amazing touch to the poem, it was very well written!
ReplyDeleteMatt S
Well-said. And thank you.
DeleteI really liked this poem’s interpretation of impatience. I usually associate impatience with waiting in a line. In this poem, impatience is the desire to experience life and all its wonders. Waiting in a line results in impatience because a person stands in a line in order to experience some aspect of life, whether it be as exciting as a Disneyland ride or as mundane as a school lunch.
ReplyDeleteI also liked this poem’s visual structure. Several lines are either indented or contain words that are very spaced out. If the lines were all in a neat block, then I would simply read this poem like any other. The spaces and the indents caused my eyes to actively look for the next words in the poem. Poetry, like life, should be viewed actively with impatience rather than passively with patience.
The lines “Your eye is / A funnel this life is running through…” really stood out to me. It suggests that we see the world with indifferent perspectives. Very rarely do we appreciate the details, both ugly and beautiful, of our surroundings. The vibrant colors of the collage capture the vividness of life that we do not often witness.
Well-said. Though in this poem 'patience' is presented as passivity, it's not always necessarily so: sometimes being actively patient is the best way to draw something out of someone ... but then again, when it's time to end that patience, one should be just as active (and that is often the harder part: thus my words of encouragement).
DeleteIn “Impatience” the irony is that you have to be incredibly patient to read the poem because of the structure. The way the poem is written forces you to read it slowly. It is not quick to get to the next line, idea, or even word. It forces you to wait to see the speaker finish their thought. While the poem achieves this effect through structure, it stresses the importance of impatience, and how patience can actually be destructive to some. “Like a girl - who doesn’t call back / Might be nice. Doesn’t matter / While you hang, stiff and crack” (12-14), speaks to this idea that people who are too patient often put themselves out there to get hurt or be disappointed. “Impatience” displays the idea that impatient people are rewarded in life. By doing so it takes a stance that is very different from the one that is commonly suggested; people are told from a young age to be flexible, nice, and patient. The word overachiever commonly has a negative connotation, and those who are assertive are often not thought of fondly. This poem’s idea tries to defy this conventional thinking, revealing the downside of being patient, and the payoff of being impatient by its claim, “impatience is a virtue.” (2).
ReplyDeleteYou, my friend, have successfully captured the precise reason why I can’t stand Disneyland. Some may call this pessimistic, sure, but why would I spend 12 hours waiting to go on 4 rides when I can spend that time advancing my life in some other way and being incredibly productive? Impatience is the true virtue here - the determination and tenacity to do more, see more, live more. Without that, we would all be moving through life at the pace of molasses in the summertime, awaiting to counter every one of life’s next moves “when the time is right.”
ReplyDeleteMy favorite line in this poem is “impatience means… being driven” due to its simplistic accuracy and stated challenge to the social normality stating patience is of great importance. Granted, patience is still important, but this will get us nowhere without some impatience as our driving force. However, the poem’s structure weaves in its own meaning, as readers are forced to have patience just to read the spaced apart words and lines, adding onto the almost paradoxical inception of poem (paradox of the importance of patience while reading through the poem inside the original paradox of impatience is a virtue.)
The relativity of this poem with the complex structure/content intertwining makes this poem truly spectacular.
Well-said.
Delete(if the poem's gaps make it hard to read, then what force propels you out to that next word?...)
I really enjoyed this poem. I, myself, am a very impatient person; I hate waiting on people and waiting on life to happen. Impatience is a virtue because it makes us go on with life. It’s like you said, “Impatience means being driven.” By being impatient, you are being productive with your time. Through this productivity, we achieve goals and enjoy life more because we refuse to wait around. Most people view impatience as bad, especially my mother. Whenever I’m waiting for her to pick me up from school, I’ll call her about three times asking her where she is--I mean I called her 10 minutes ago, and I’m positive it does not take 10 minutes to drive to school. She always yells at me for being impatient and claims that I’m being rude, but in fact I’m just in a rush to get home. I guess you can view impatience as being selfish with your time. It’s not bad to stop waiting for that phone call from that girl you’re never going to get, or go out and do something without your friend because they’re almost an hour late. The ending, “and smile,” is a nice reminder for people to not feel bad about their “selfishness” because after all life is going to continue whether we’re waiting for it or not.
ReplyDeleteI still think you should feel bad for calling your mom every 10 minutes to hassle her, just for not doing you a favor quickly enough (if it's really less than a 10 minute drive, just start walking that way ... THAT's being driven).
DeleteThe title of this poem, “Impatience”, caught my eye, as I have always been a very impatient person. I especially liked this poem because it points out the ways that impatience is positive, for example, that it is “a virtue” and means “being driven”. I also agree with the message of this poem, as I have never agreed with the assumption that impatience is entirely bad. The main message I received from this poem is that life is too short to sit around patiently waiting for things to happen, and that when something is not working out (especially in relationships) there is a certain point where you have to move on. The line “living comes in cutting off” seems especially important because it points out how me must let go of the things we cannot have “Like a girl--who doesn’t call back” or “a clear day” because this stops us from making new experiences and going out and living our lives. Although patience has been attributed with “grace”, it can stop us from seeing and experiencing all that we can. For me, the line at the end of the poem comparing an eye to a funnel, which “this life is running through”, was pointing out that patience causes us to only experience a small portion of life at a time, like a funnel, when really there is so much the world has to offer.
ReplyDeleteYou can only do so much to widen your "funnel" of awareness as a human ... but you CAN make sure to let as much pass though as possible :)
DeleteThis poem changed my perspective regarding impatience. I am usually a very patient person and there is a time and a place for that patience, but this poem made me realize that sometimes my patience could be holding me back from so much or result in letting people walk all over me. This poem has opened my eyes because it is true that “impatience means being driven”. When someone is impatient, he or she isn’t going to wait for that girl “who doesn’t call back”, “a clear day” or “some friends - coming over late”. An impatient person is going to do what he or she pleases and move forward in their life rather than stick in one place like treading through mud. Impatience is a driving force that pushes people to chart their own path and decide what is really important to them and what deserves their time and effort. When someone is impatient that means that they have something to do, something to experience or somewhere to go. And if you don’t have something to do, something to experience or somewhere to go, then are you really taking advantage of life and the endless possibilities that go along with it? I loved “tear off those bands from your patient cheeks and smile, broad channel. And smile.” To me those words represented a push to do what I want and let my impatience shine through, similar to life running through the funnel that is your eye, because impatience isn’t a negative thing, but rather a beautiful thing that can propel life forward.
ReplyDeleteP.S. In the comments before mine, many people said that it was interesting that the poem is about impatience, yet reading the poem requires patience because of the way that it was formatted. I agree with that but could it also be argued that impatience could drive you to read the next word?
Thanks for the poem! It was beautifully written and gave me some clarity and a new perspective.
I'm glad.
DeleteI hope it pops into your head at some point where it proves useful.
I thought of Whitman. I don't know why, but it happened, probably when I read "that's not living". I thought of "Song of Myself" and another particular quote of his - "oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me." The poem redefines impatience as determination and drive, as ignoring obstacles and refusing to rely on others. Instead of becoming indefinitely entrapped within our hesitation and always idly waiting for some magical optimal time, we should find enough justification with our own instincts and just act and feel. There is no sense in finding courtesy and consideration in being patient, because it’s really not a virtue when we can never actually achieve anything. Life is short, and we can’t depend on outside forces, on some external fate or controlling universe to give us the green light. We celebrate patience while in actuality we find an excuse for uncertainty, fear, hesitation. We might as well be living to die - only waiting until death to happen to us - if we cannot reach beyond the “tendons” of “patience” that restrain our action and emotion. The image of the funnel is brilliant - of how we filter and refine and compose everything into a neat and perfect stream, but only find that it slows the process of living; and as we keep seeing life through this funnel that slows everything down and we keep waiting and waiting and thinking and waiting, we are no longer living, and meanwhile the pace of life keeps flowing faster than we can funnel and so it clogs and spills and will overflow and only leave us behind, with nothing but our regret and missed opportunities. In the end, we must learn to smile if we’re happy, cry if we’re sad, and just experience our natural inclinations instead of trying to construct some perfectly self-controlled external illusion of yielding contentment and composure.
ReplyDeleteThanks -- good images come when one tries to make subtle points with limited vocabulary.
DeleteI don't think I'd quite agree with your paraphrase of "impatience as ... ignoring obstacles and refusing to rely on others." If you're waiting for friends who've left you hanging, you are -- in fact -- (a) ignoring an obstacle, and (b) bereaving yourself of reliable company. Being driven means having the fire inside to say:
"This is bullshit, I feel devalued and am not having a good time, and I'm going to act accordingly." It's good to rely on people, and to acknowledge obstacles as such ... just make sure they're the right people and the important obstacles.
The first couple lines of the poem really struck my interest, as I consider myself an impatient person, and was intrigued by someone calling impatience a virtue. The examples that followed proved how impatience could be beneficial to one’s life, and I found myself agreeing with the speaker that being impatient was beneficial to him in all the situations mentioned. Diction such as “hang, stiff, and crack”, “clogged up too long”, and “Patience is for nice guys” all serve to portray patience in a negative light, while contrast the “driven” meaning that if given to impatience. The syntax of putting many spaces between the middle and end of a few of the sentences forces the reader to pause and wait for the conclusion of the speaker’s thoughts. As I read and quickly skipped over these spaces, I realized that it was my impatience that was causing me to rapidly move through these empty pauses in the writing. The final stanza of the poem had sentences that slowly got shorter and shorter, almost as if the words were being distilled into a simpler phrases to convey the message in a shorter amount of time. The final line simply states, “smile” which for me, embodies the author’s message of living in the moment, and not waiting for happiness. Rather than wait for the friends that are late, or dwell on the weather not being perfect, the author commands the reader to move on with their life and obtain that happiness now, which is what impatient people want to do in their everyday life. This poem redefined impatience for me, and caused me to see the benefits being impatient has afforded me, where I previously only saw the cost.
ReplyDeleteThis poem brings to light the basic human desire for progress and success that is often labeled as impatience. Now while there are instances of impatience for unimportant things (microwave food, traffic, etc.), the greatest minds out there are constantly pushing for things to get done so that they can move on to something else. This drive makes these individuals extremely efficient and sets them apart from the rest of the population. It doesn’t even have to be the most brilliant minds; those with the potential for greatness can come from anywhere. I found that the real message of the poem was that happiness comes to those who don’t wait. Instead, of sitting around and waiting for something to happen to them, those “impatient” people are proactive and choose to move on with their lives. I think that it is actually in people’s best interest to be “impatient” because your life can become what you make of it and not a result of the environment that you are in.
ReplyDeleteNewly endowed with the title of “Second-Semester Senior” and with the knowledge of where I will be spending the next few years of my life, I find myself in this perceived stagnant period where I must wait and be patient for my promised great future to happen. I hate my high school years and wish to start this new life that my parents tell me is fast approaching. But being patient in this time for many reasons is a terrible thing. First of all, I feel this boring pointlessness overwhelming my life. I know teenagers act like they are immortal but death doesn’t seem far off as the humdrum of adult life approaches. Some days it just doesn’t seem like there is direction. Like what are we getting to? And when I get to that bright future that they promised me, there will still be ugly, ill-intentioned people, there will still be cruel facts of life, and I will still be me with all of my flaws. With all of this one would think I was suicidal or something. But I am really not. I know it is a mistake to waste six months of my ephemeral life hoping and waiting for change. I know it is a mistake to waste six minutes. Waiting is poison. It is what makes me feel so terrible sometimes. Because in addition to doing nothing and feeling like a waste, in all this idle-time, I build up these expectations so that even when I get to that future I am always disappointed. I love this poem because of its happy ending. I am trying to get myself to move to “tear of [the] bands” and smile because that is what makes my life alive and not pointless. Or if it is pointless, I don’t care. Like the other day I spent a whole day reading through the handbook of my future school and looking through the admitted students Facebook page where I hoped to lay eyes on my future friends. But as the sun began to wane, I became fearful of all that I was throwing away. I made myself get up and I drove to the Getty. I saw so much beauty and I felt so alive and glad to be being. While I don’t think this is all the primary meaning of your striking poem, I derive a lot of positive thinking from it which is so essential to me right now. I appreciate it very much. I love the line “don’t wait.” It reminds me of a jarring whisper you always remember from some small but transcendent experience that guides you through the rest of your life. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThat's why "rock-bottom" is such a powerful state.
DeleteI'm sure you haven't hit it yet-- but give it 6 years. I bet you will: it's glorious... just breath-taking when you start bounding back out of that hole :)
I am an incredibly impatient person, and this poem stood out to me because I agree with it in many ways. I do feel that sometimes my impatience can be a positive thing, as I do not procrastinate and am efficient with my time because I am not patient enough to wait for everything. I am glad this poem has an alternate idea about a characteristic and personality trait that is commonly looked down upon.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction to the poem was perplexity, as I tried to gain a true understanding for how the poem could possibly value patience as a true virtue. As I continued to read and then re-read the poem once more, the meaning became more clear and relatable for me. Rather than just waiting around and wishfully expecting things to change, the poem is saying one must take matters into their own hands in order to accomplish anything. By allowing oneself to get caught up in relying on others to change or do the right thing, that is preventing oneself from making the change that will make them feel and be the most empowered.
ReplyDeleteThis is the most relatable poem for me on your entire blog, and I will most likely reference this poem in the future only for people to not really know what I am talking about as I will probably bring this up on tangents in future rants I have about being patient. For me growing up, patience was the hardest idea to grasp because as I child I always wanted to be doing something, whether it was playing, going to school, or doing work; I always had to be doing something. I feel myself still in that mindset a lot of the time now as I feel myself getting caught up in being busy that I cannot even afford to hang out with a friend because I have something else planned. Ultimately for me, my impatience drives me to do and try new things, which I see as a gift and a curse, as I think I am a well-rounded person, yet I am usually quite stressed out because of this.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I really had to think about your statement of being impatient as “not living.” I do see your point in this, but I do have to quibble with you to some regard, as in my experiences thus far, most people that are too patient are commonly too relaxed for me and I honestly can never see myself as truly relaxed. Maybe this is something I can work on, because I know I have been, but it becomes a philosophical question of if I work to become relaxed, am I truly relaxed?
Anyways, sorry for my ramblings, I do really enjoy this poem and see the purpose in it to get people to relax and truly observe and appreciate the world around them.
Trying to enjoy mellow people when you're not mellow is like trying to enjoy death metal when you're in a bad mood -- to incongruous to be comfortable.
DeleteIn those instances, what you might do is look those people in the face, then look yourself in a mirror, and ask which state-of-being looks more pleasant and sustainable. Then go there...impatiently ;)
What drew me into this poem was the title: “Impatience.” As a current high school senior who is awaiting college decisions, it seems the only thing people tell me is “patience, patience, patience, ” but I am so impatient and I am dying to find out where I got in. I love how you began the poem; in the first phrase, you take the thematic topic of impatience, a topic that has such a widespread negative connotation, and you spun it into something positive by calling it a virtue; additionally giving patience more of a negative connotation by saying it’s for “nice guys” and “sociopaths.” I’ve never thought of impatience as a virtue before and when you connected it to being driven I saw the correlation completely. That line really resonated with me. For me, I am impatient because I want to get a move on life, I desire change, I am driven; I’d never thought of patience sometimes getting in the way. But you also touched upon the hamartia of impatience: that feeling when someone doesn’t text you back or arrives late and you’re stuck wondering if you did something wrong or if they even still like you; I relate to this so much, it made me feel so much better to know this is a universally felt emotion. I constantly wonder if someone suddenly dislikes me when they don’t reply back quickly. I also love how you structured the poem. Because of the unnatural spacing, I read this as if I was waiting for the next word — the spaces represented impatience; I was impatiently waiting for what you were going to say next. That was such a cool choice! You tied impatience to the whole experience of life; we are impatient because we know we are going to die someday, but life is a fast, a funnel as you say, and we should allow ourselves to be impatient and relish it. I love that— your poem inspired me to own my impatient nature and see the value of impatience. I absolutely loved this poem!
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