becauses…

E.M. Forster says that a story is a narrative of events arranged chronologically as in “the king died, and then the queen died,” whereas a plot, although also a narrative of events, concentrates more on the because of things as in “the king died, and then the queen died of grief.” ~ Frederick Buechner

Is life a story? I’d say yes, but it also feels like something far more rich. Life feels like a plot, a wondrously varied string of becauses.

Becauses
Because I hid the word in my heart so
that I might not sin against god I find
a tendency to think scripturally the way
Euclid, I guess, thought logically.
 
Because my sr high neighbor used to sun
bathe on her flat roof so that my jr high self
could catch bathsheban glimpses I find a soft
spot in my heart for roving-eyed kings.
 
Because I watched John Wayne rescue little
Natalie Wood at least a hundred times I find
I know what makes a man leave bed and board
and turn his back on the ninety and nine.
 
Because my mother taught me to iron my
own shirts I find I can do all things, or if
not all at least I can do a little like putting
creases down sleeves in a wrinkled world.
 
These and more becauses leave me no choice
but to find my life, and yours for that matter,
as more plot than story, more riddled with
hilarity and grief than grass that simply fades.
 

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5 Comments

  1. Bare Branches on May 3, 2012 at 12:36 pm

    I don’t know how you do it. I’ll say it again-What an amazing gift you have. I’m moved far more frequently than what I comment on because at a certain point it’s difficult to find new ways to say “you captured something I knew in my heart but would never be able to put in these words.” (and because it would just be weird to keep commenting. Perhaps the
    best way would be to simply say “My soul says ‘Yes'”

  2. consolationofmirth on May 3, 2012 at 12:39 pm

    “These and more becauses…” are why I check your blog for new posts, every day.

  3. patriciaspreng on May 3, 2012 at 1:08 pm

    creative soul you are… weaving thought to word the way you do. I really enjoy reading your work.

  4. sethhaines on May 3, 2012 at 1:10 pm

    I love this… especially when read in the light of your “you are your own king” piece. Yep, you found me in this one.

    Thanks, John. As always, you’re a good read.

  5. Melinda Viergever Inman on May 3, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    I love this! It’s how God weaves our intricate plots of becauses that makes us so uniquely who we are .

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