Is Safe a Thing?

©2019 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Karl Ibri on Unsplash

What is your move
the day you realize
no matter what goes down,
worse things can smite you?

Refute it, fight it,
swear it isn’t so?
Sit back and let some
sneaky cobra bite you?

Do you relax, rest
easy and de-stress,
convinced of your
complete immunity?

Will you catch-and-release,
defang, redress…
or let it slither
with impunity?

Sometimes I want to
coil up like a snake,
hiding my tender skin
from deadly strikes.

But then I’d be a
victim in the end,
reduced to pose as
what my heart dislikes.

This risk of unseen
vipers gives me vapors;
I’m beefing up my
anti-venom stash.

But hey, if all else fails,
I’ll find the lesson
and store it in my
hard-won-knowledge cache.
∞§∞

“There is no education like adversity.”
Benjamin Disraeli

Every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result…The Lord in His wisdom does not shield anyone from grief or sadness.”
Joseph B. Wirthlin

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