‘Temper your enthusiasm,’
She said,
‘The extremes of your reactions;
You should have
A more conventional frame
On which to hang
Your unconventionality.’
‘Don’t push people,’
She said,
‘You make yourself vulnerable.’
Was I was hiding
Some sad
Dark secret from the world?
She told me not to rhapsodise,
That it would be difficult,
Impossible, perhaps,
For me to harness my dynamism.
The tone of my work,
She said,
Is often a little dubious.
She said
She thought
That there was something wrong.
As if I was hiding
Some sad
Dark secret from the world.
Wow, this is so accurate a
Wow, this is so accurate a description of disencouragement, and is very similar to my own experience---both with my first love, and with my faculty advisor at college.
Starward
Interesting, very...
...but I have never seen her words as discouraging, I think she was trying to 'tone me down' as if fearing I was operating at too high a pitch of intensity. In the event, about 10 years after she spoke these words to me, I suffered a kind of collapse, mostly alcohol-related, and I don't feel I've ever fully recovered. But thanks for your comment, great as always to hear from you here. Carl.
Born London, residing London Metropolitan Area.