The New Robert Brault Reader: Their Own Private Business

Saturday, August 26, 2023

Their Own Private Business

"If you would find a truly contented person, it would likely be someone no one thinks to envy, who seeks no attention, invites no comparison, whose contentment is their own private business."

A Bit of Verse

I love to go down

To the open sea

For the solitude --

And the company.

~~~~~

The greatest joy

In a goal achieved

Is sharing the moment

With one who believed.

~~~~~

'Tis a bold ballet

And a daring dance,

Dodging your destiny

And chasing your chance.

~~~~~

Listen to reason

And grow wise in season,

Or heed your heart

And get a head start.

~~~~~

The present oft repeats the past,

Same old drama, different cast.

The former cast, you somehow

sense,

Sitting in the audience.

~~~~~

Though battered by daring,

Not sorry I dared.

Though sorrowed by caring,

Not sorry I cared.

~~~~~

What shall I be --

the angry sea

that pounds against the shore

or soft agleam

the quiet stream

that carves the canyon floor!

~~~~~

On a windswept hill

By a billowing sea,

My destiny sits

And waits for me.

~~~~~

The past is but mem'ries,

The future but dreams,

Only the present

Is just what it seems.

~~~~~

Another night, another "Why?"

I launch into the starry sky

To echo as a fading sigh

Across the reach of no reply.

~~~~~

Under every full moon

I recall a lagoon

where a mandolin played,

and memories stir

of the dreamers we were

and the plans that we made.

~~~~~

The mind, as you age,

Is an artist, it seems.

Monet paints your mem'ries,

Picasso your dreams.

~~ Robert Brault