Surrender. What a charged word. Does it make you feel resistant? Glorying in someone else’s defeat? Ashamed to be brought low? These are all pretty much negative connotations. Then there’s the whole military meaning: one side wins and the other loses. Sports, whether amateur or professional bring their own kind of surrender, again through winning and losing.
Farther over to the positive side of the surrender continuum lies a healthier type of submission. For example, the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous lean heavy on this side of the curve. Consider, for example:
• “We admitted we were powerless . . .”
• “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over . . .”
• “Made amends to . . . people . . .”
Is it possible to have a situation where both sides win? Consider a marriage riddled with conflict. Through mediation and healthy counseling, the result could be that both parties surrender (and compromise) in the interest of building a healthy relationship. What about surrender that is, say, spiritual in nature? Or surrender in love and health? Surrender to a greater power, as some claim? Surrender to an immoveable obstacle?
All these forms of surrender usually include either a temporary or permanent conflict. However, if such surrender leads to a “happy ending” for all parties, it may very well be worth the struggle. The poem below attempts to embrace such “happy endings.”
Echoes of Surrender
Waterfall of surrender
no admission of defeat
Rather
a lovely dive into a tranquil blue pool
a renunciation of selfling
a gathering of many nightingale wings
dispatches to archetypal dreams
Finesse and finitude of youth
numberless truths
acceptance of each as all at once
not so mysterious when wraiths embrace unknowing’s gate
to impermanence
to constructs’ conflagration
Verbing the way through dancers’ days
Musicality and revelatory clout
spoken interpretations – or not
Integrity no matter comprehension
daily renewal of ascension
Life’s bones have their say no matter the perception
regardless of appreciation
Each one is called
regardless of reception
Innocence wrapped naked
all those awaiting becoming
and others clearly now arriving
Each appears before the other
one by one partnerships emerge
weighted with incomprehensible fires flowering
burnt arisings and departings
visitations’ drifting dandelion puffs in flight
dragonflies seized and let go
mating ecstatically, then plummeting
hidden in waters’ silhouettes
surrendering to the next generation
Background
The synonyms for “surrender” don’t do much to encourage such an act as positive. Here are some dictionary synonyms: capitulation, submission, yield, succumb, fall, defeat, resign. All these sound fairly negative, yet perhaps each could be seen in a positive light as well. In contrast, many words in the poem carry a positive feel: lovely, tranquil, acceptance, dancers’ days, integrity, innocence, partnerships, and so forth. How can these be in a poem about surrender?
The personal background for this poem comes from the many times in my life when I decided to surrender – choosing the end of a marriage, adapting to disability, coming to terms with the death of a loved one, and when offering an apology. Consider the times when you have surrendered; are those times positive or negative, i.e., what is the feeling each experience left you with?
Exploration 1: Depending on the scenario you have in mind, consider to what and/or to whom you would consider surrendering.
Exploration 2: Next, explore the “when” and the “how” of the act of surrender from both points of view: 1) when you are surrendering, and 2) when someone surrenders to you.
Exploration 3: Perhaps most important, decide “why” surrender may be taken as an active decision.
Exploration 4: Consider what the following line might mean: “a renunciation of selfing.”
JPSavage
Wannaska World 2018.09.03
Immediately after Otto clicked on “confirm” for Izzi’s Facebook friend request, he regretted it. Friending someone meant that an expectation of writing to each other existed. Otto found himself wanting to immerse himself in some of the games he had found on the internet, but the temptations of technology paled beside what he had just done: he had friended a girl. Among all the other boys his age, he had never heard of any of them who had done such a thing. “Well,” he thought, “she does ride horses.” He chastised himself for falling for the horses. “But she’s awful pretty,” Otto ruminated for a Nano-second. He decided he would have to ask Bobby his opinion on the subject. Otto dashed off an email to Bobby, and without waiting for a reply, hurried off to the BMM bridge.
When Otto arrived, sure enough, Bobby leaned against the base of the bridge chewing on a long weed.
“S’up?” Bobby asked casually.
Otto remained silent, scuffing the dirt with the toe of his tennis shoe. Bobby waited for him to work himself up to whatever he wanted to say. After a bit, Otto asked, “What d’ya think of bein’ friends with a girl?”
“You’ve gotta be kidding!” Bobby scoffed. “Why would you wanna do that?”
“I’m not sayin’ I would – jus’ wondrin’ whatya’ thought.” At this, the image of Izzi’s face swirled up Otto’s emotional circuitry, and he felt that warmth again – that pull right down there in his pants. The feeling wasn’t unfamiliar, but this time, he felt he needed to do something about it.
“I jus’ don’t see any reason to have a girl as a friend. For example, you ‘n me been friends for a long time, and there’s the other guys, too. Jus’ don’t see anything in it for girls when ya’ got such great guys to hang with.”
“Never mind.” Otto brushed off the topic, but Bobby would not let it go.
“So, any particular girl yer thinkin’ of?”
“Kinda.” Otto couldn’t lie to Bobby if he tried.
“Well, dang! Who’s this girl?” Bobby insisted with a tone of disdain in his voice.
“Never mind, I said!” Otto started to walk away, up the bank beside the bridge.
“Hold up!” But Otto continued up toward the tracks. Bobby hurried after him continuing his inquiries.
“Jus’ leave it!” Otto said. And Bobby did.
Wannaska World 2018.09.03
Immediately after Otto clicked on “confirm” for Izzi’s Facebook friend request, he regretted it. Friending someone meant that an expectation of writing to each other existed. Otto found himself wanting to immerse himself in some of the games he had found on the internet, but the temptations of technology paled beside what he had just done: he had friended a girl. Among all the other boys his age, he had never heard of any of them who had done such a thing. “Well,” he thought, “she does ride horses.” He chastised himself for falling for the horses. “But she’s awful pretty,” Otto ruminated for a Nano-second. He decided he would have to ask Bobby his opinion on the subject. Otto dashed off an email to Bobby, and without waiting for a reply, hurried off to the BMM bridge.
When Otto arrived, sure enough, Bobby leaned against the base of the bridge chewing on a long weed.
“S’up?” Bobby asked casually.
Otto remained silent, scuffing the dirt with the toe of his tennis shoe. Bobby waited for him to work himself up to whatever he wanted to say. After a bit, Otto asked, “What d’ya think of bein’ friends with a girl?”
“You’ve gotta be kidding!” Bobby scoffed. “Why would you wanna do that?”
“I’m not sayin’ I would – jus’ wondrin’ whatya’ thought.” At this, the image of Izzi’s face swirled up Otto’s emotional circuitry, and he felt that warmth again – that pull right down there in his pants. The feeling wasn’t unfamiliar, but this time, he felt he needed to do something about it.
“I jus’ don’t see any reason to have a girl as a friend. For example, you ‘n me been friends for a long time, and there’s the other guys, too. Jus’ don’t see anything in it for girls when ya’ got such great guys to hang with.”
“Never mind.” Otto brushed off the topic, but Bobby would not let it go.
“So, any particular girl yer thinkin’ of?”
“Kinda.” Otto couldn’t lie to Bobby if he tried.
“Well, dang! Who’s this girl?” Bobby insisted with a tone of disdain in his voice.
“Never mind, I said!” Otto started to walk away, up the bank beside the bridge.
“Hold up!” But Otto continued up toward the tracks. Bobby hurried after him continuing his inquiries.
“Jus’ leave it!” Otto said. And Bobby did.
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