The Pendulum Poem by Jim Yerman

Have you ever noticed how, like a pendulum, life swings rhythmically to and fro
How we are faced with opposing forces wherever we may go?

As I look out on the world, at its constant fluctuation and its sway
I think our lives have a myriad of pendulums...swinging every day.

We come, we go, we give, we take, we win, sometimes we fail
We sleep, we wake, we have highs and lows, we breathe in...we exhale.

We laugh, we cry, we are foolish and wise, sometimes we’re the patient, sometimes the nurse.
We love, we hate, we’re true, we’re false, why we even marry for better or for worse.

We are at war, we are at peace, we create, we destroy, we agree and disagree
We feel sorrow, we feel joy, we are up, we are down, we are a friend and an enemy.

It matters not who we are, where we’ve been or our individual upbringing
Or wether or not we’d like it to stop...the pendulum keeps swinging

Sometimes we know the length of the arc, like from sunrise to sunset
While other swings are more erratic, like from a misstep to regret.

Sometimes the pendulum swings quickly like between acceptance and rejection.
Sometimes like from life to death it swings in only one direction.

Most of the time we have no control of its distance or its flight
The best we can do is climb aboard, close our eyes and hold on tight.

If we’re lucky, along the way, we realize the swing is really a glide
So we can sit back, throw our hands in the air and simply enjoy the ride.

And pray when the pendulum swings to sorrow that we are still able to smile
And hope when it swings to joy...it will linger there awhile.