The Last drops

[William Garza]

I am a rough man by necessity..but not nature.
To live, a man must have work and mine is of the course sort.
But I have drank fine wine among friends and lost ones
Have sat silently and watched many ends of days..as Tolstoy said..a great mystery unfolds before you...
I have been there at beginnings,middles,and ends
And along the way have learned that not all vintage are bitter
Or sweet...
But I have drank of them until the bottle was empty but for a few drops

Not so desparate as to upend these vintages
Leavings of the bitters
Of the sweets

I think that to drink fully of that bottle is important for "that" time
Bitter
Or sweet

And that leaving a few drops is generosity incarnate.

If I leave a few drops at the bottom I may be saying
Or making a...pact.

There will be others
Bitter
Or sweet...and that I can expect there will be other vintages to drink

And that I will drink from those cups as well,
Bitter and sweet..because they are there before me and I am thirsty
And not afraid to sabre that bottle and pour like a person unafraid
And to smack my lips
For it is wine
And wine must be tasted before you know the true meaning..
Of bitter and sweet
Bitter..or sweet
And both..that middle path

Pilgrim
In the way you may be inside your head and facing that mirror of yourself
And you will see bitter things
And you will see sweet things
And at the end find that life is bitter sweet and that you have found yourself able to know that.

If not for the bitter
You would not know sweet
You may start off alone..but you won't finish alone.

And from that sweetness you will find the parting to be a bringer of some sorrow

But find you home..and sitting and realise that you drank every bottle that came your way and are satisfied

We cannot afford the finest all the time
Life is not all sweet
But we also do not have the dregs either

We balance.
If walking the Way will blend your experiences into a tolerable vintage? Then you have become connoisseur
You have left the vestiges of all those past experiences to lay and dry in those empty bottles.
What you end up from all your experiences is a pleasant buzz of life,

Hang in there Pilgrim..its not all good or bad..it just is
May you find many bottles on your Way Pilgrim
Having drank the wine is far better than a thirst

 

[yaying]

the bitter sweet...
as im holding long enough bitterness,
with all my heart assures sweetness will come.
Wonderfully blend to have 'bitter & sweet' not 'bitter or a sweet'.

 

[HedaP]

Yet another poem that touches the heart, William. I love it. And speaking for myself, I just have to be careful that by accepting the bitter with the sweet it doesn’t make me insensitive to others.
Buen camino mi amigo.

 

[Susan Campbell]

This made me cry, it’s so beautiful and so true and takes some of my pain away. Thank you

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Thank you for sharing your lovely, thought provoking poems on this forum. They add a whole new dimension to what we are usually reading/sharing and they are in a category all their own.

 

[Kathy Jaudegis]

Thank you William.....

 

[William Garza]

We could live a thousand lives and still not have lived enough to learn to take the bitter and not become embittered.
The Way...that burning ray..that winepress clarifies and brings out a sweetness of soul as the impurities are washed away in the miles.
What is left is what you are truly are
Washed clean by winds,rain and sun...burnished to a fine gloss by the miles...what began as raw sour grapes....
Can be changed by time and space away from what the world wants you to be...your worldism...to who you are...your individualism....no longer able to be divided,divisive or detritus in that order of things.
There is..This order of things.
It is the strength to take the bitter and the sweet together and make it good enough
But what you don't see
Is that what you see as good enough
Is far more exotic a vintage to the world outside...you have become...Better
You take it away from those miles and give the world a taste....
You have become either too complex
Or too simple for "them" to understand

That is one reason those of the Caminos know each other by nature

You are more
You are less
But in all?
You have..."become"

Take it all Pilgrim..you were\are brave enough to step forth from which ever port you chose..and travel all those km

They...will not understand your leaving
They may not recognize on return
What they fear..is what they didn't have the courage to do...

What do they know of taste?

We hide in the dark out of fear
We fear what's out in the darkness
Do not fear to face any darkness....

For only by walking out into that black is found that we seed courage in fertile soil

Deep in your cups..in vino Veritas
You will find the truth is bitter sweet
And its ok.

Off you go Pilgrim on the Way!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Amazing writing, William! The beauty of your thoughts written are so deep!

 

[Kathy Jaudegis]

Amazing and beautiful...