It always amazes me what draws people together... it always astounds me what people will do to feel something... it always surprises me what can be seen and what can be heard when people become observers as well as participants of a communal experience of excitement and wonder... it always fascinates me what people are willing to do when they are given the freedom and the gift to be anything and to say anything they want. For centuries, crowds and audiences members have stood, sat, cheered, and clapped while watching fighters in a fight, competitors in a competition, players in a game face off against one another... for all of time, there has been a race between multiple sides in which the object is to dominate and be the victor... whenever there is a contest to out-do, to out-play, and to overshadow someone else there is always a start and a finish, there are always winners and there are always losers, and sometimes when people bring their "A game" they can even surprise themselves with just how good they can be when they put their all into that which they love... whenever a particular moment arrives for someone to shine like they have been preparing to do for hours, for days, for months, perhaps even for years, players, athletes, thrill-seekers all always find the strength, the speed, the spirit, the will, the heart to go as far as they can possibly go like a rocket ship to the heavens above. It can feel life-changing to be somewhere with a multitude of people at a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness something phenomenal, fulfilling, and magical... it can be engrossing to feel as if you are a part of something bigger than you believe you are, but at the same time something you feel inextricably a part of - as if you are staring at a piece of art in a gallery and you feel like you can step inside the frame... it can be entertaining, electrifying, enlightening, enlivening, enriching to be pulled into something that while you are doing it looks and most likely feels wonderful and enjoyable... it can be hard to resist picking a team, picking a side, picking a sport, picking something to engage your attention in - like one of the many encompassing games of the world.
players
My Poem ‘The Game of Life’
Life is a game –
or so it can seem, feel,
appear, and sometimes sound like;
life is a game,
that is full of players, users,
journeys, questions, and answers –
and as I get older and wiser,
and as I happen upon one person after another,
and as I have encounter after encounter,
I see people playing a game
that they might not even be aware that they are playing,
or participating in;
however, I see things that most people
might not think to think about, or look for:
I see plans, strategies, intentions, and manipulation;
people are generally creatures of habit,
and when I see someone doing something
that they do not always do
I know to prepare for a change in the pattern
and in the behavior of someone or something I know
that I might not completely have seen before.
Life is constantly changing –
however, the rules of life stay the same and cannot change;
life is a constant moment
that is continuously taken for granted –
as are people, and that is why life and time
can sometimes feel like a cage.
There are always different lives, different sides,
and everybody is dancing to a tune;
there are people of all colours and kinds –
there are some people who feel like their best in the sun,
and there are some people who prefer to be out all night
and bask and even howl wild
while under some kind of influence
under the light of the moon.
Light, and dark;
night, and day;
Clown fish, and sharks;
dies, and cards;
snakes, and ladders;
extremes of colour
that appear more vibrant
in a world that shifts constantly
through every shade of grey.
People can get used;
people can get hurt;
people can get treated one minute
like an exciting front-page story,
and then the next they can be relegated to yesterday’s news.
As someone who watches the world,
as someone who watches people,
as someone who wears the scars of a battle,
like someone who has been cut by knife,
I have seen so much,
I have felt so much,
I have done so much,
and I am starting to understand so much,
and though I do not wholly believe yet
that all the world is a game of players,
I do believe that someone people
are actively playing a game
that to them is a way of life.
Mark The Poet 