The casual society eats its popcorn
While its champions
Slug it out on the field.
And hardly a one in the crowd
Gives serious thought
To doing anything—
Anything, mind you—
So deliberate themselves.
Whether in body, mind, heart,
Soul, or spirit,
They are not ever likely to
Exert themselves so fully
Toward any end.
And so they settle
For what comes easy—
Like the popcorn—
Having little idea
That there are so many real treasures
Beyond their casual grasp.
And surely I am one of them, too—
In this way, even if not in that—
Too often deciding too soon
What is enough to attain,
When it turns out
That my soul really
Needed more.
And in case you’re wondering,
I’m not talking about
Acquiring more stuff,
But about investing strenuously
In my own betterment,
And in that of others,
For the best people I know
Did not become as they are
Through casual means,
And are no strangers
To the standard scars
Of such battles.
And they keep falling down
And getting back up
Until they get good at staying up.
And then they go find something else
To add to their pursuits,
Falling down and getting back up
All over again.
And people like this—
If they are in it for the love of the game
And not for the love of the crowds—
Will count you in the family
When they see that your heart
Keeps fighting, too.
And you would never have known them
Had you not searched beyond
What is casual.
