Wednesday, November 11, 2009

The Hero's Luck

(shamelessly stolen from The Writer's Almanac)

The Hero's Luck

by Lawrence Raab
When something bad happens
we play it back in our minds,
looking for a place to step in
and change things. We should go outside
right now, you might have said. Or:
Let's not drive anywhere today.

The sea rises, the mountain collapses.
A car swerves toward the crowd
you've just led your family into.
We all look for reasons. Luck
isn't the word you want to hear.
What happened had to,

or it didn't. Maybe
the exceptional man can change direction
in midair, thread the needle's eye,
and come out whole. But even the hero
who stands up to chance has to feel
how far the world will bend

until it breaks him. He can see
that day: the unappeasable ocean,
the cascades of stone. A crowd
gathers around his body. He sees that too.
someone is saying: His luck just ran out.
It happens to us all.

4 comments:

PJ Hoover said...

Hmmm...I wonder if you should have won the horseshoe?
have you read Zen Shorts? It has a story in it called The Farmer's Luck which I love. Next time you're at the bookstore, check it out in the picture book section.

Kelly H-Y said...

Wow ... what a poem.

Robyn Campbell said...

Beth, I'm with Angela! Hmmm, it definitely happens to us all. Even the Hero.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

does it happen even if we dont want it to?