Fragments 8/10: Changes

I began a 10-day experiment on October 30th. For 10 days, I am:

1. Setting a timer for 15 minutes
2. Writing what I can during that time
3. Stopping when the time is up
4. Posting what is written without any final editing

For additional context, check out the first post in this series by clicking here.

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START

A man may change and turn back again
To the things he knew before
And again might he
Morph suddenly
To be what he was once more

Whether personality or action
Or a manner of deeds
He may try one out
But come only to doubt
The fruit that would be born of such seeds

My youth was marked in a manner of sorts
With whimsy and spontaneous action
No methods, no planning
And small understanding
The garments of childhood fashion

A-ways down the road, through the passage of time
It seems that a change had set in
To consider approach

STOP

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It was difficult to think of a theme for this fragment. With the election tomorrow, I had considered a continuation of “Fragment 7/10: Political”. Then I thought of writing about my earliest memory or trying to write fiction but wasn’t too attracted to the idea. It was only then that I decided on what would become the central theme to this poem.

From my childhood up until now, I’ve observed myself waiver between the objective and the subjective. There have been periods in which I operated more from a place of spontaneity and there have been others in which I’ve been very methodical and planned-out. Now, I’m trying to figure out the various parts of me that resonate more deeply with one over the other. Music is where I satisfy the spontaneous part of my brain; I play what I feel and I feel what I play. Work is where I become organized, filed, and automatic.

This poem was an attempt to capture some of that process-switching that occurs throughout life. As we get older, we become different people and yet we are the same person. If I were to meet you on your 10th and 40th birthdays (and never in-between), there would be certain qualities about you that would have changed completely while others would still be recognizable, even after 30 years. Some of that change comes about because we learn how to change. Some of it happens because we simply grow into it. Some of it is a combination of both.