Inch… By… Excruciating… Inch… Keep… Moving… On by Paul Tristram

Do not join the hordes

of those Dead

long before

they actually Die.

Even when Life

boxes you in stationary

keep moving forward

with your Mind.

And when Hope

seems Pointless

or Evasive…

that’s when, in fact,

you need it Most.

Although Today

is dark and sinking…

drowning-man Cling

onto the Magic

possible in Tomorrow.

© Paul Tristram 2026

7 thoughts on “Inch… By… Excruciating… Inch… Keep… Moving… On by Paul Tristram

  1. Bill Tope's avatar Bill Tope says:

    The passage, “Cling onto the magic possible of tomorrow” is this verse in essence. Words which bear remembering. Thanks for the sage advice; I’ll try to remember it when I really need it, a time which will surely come.

    Like

  2. Happy Bloomsday Paul

    The nearly infinite gears of the great God clock work together. Therefore this poem could very well be going through Leopold Bloom’s mind, right now as his day begins again. Strong advice as well.

    Leila

    Like

    • DWB's avatar DWB says:

      Hi LA

      Exactly two years ago today three things converged as it was Bloomsday, Father’s Day, and Sunday, all on the same day. And it was the day our correspondence officially began as you graciously wrote to accept my story “The Old Guitarist” for Literally Stories while also letting me know you had a print of Picasso’s painting of the same name on your wall. It was also a significant time for me since I was still recovering (with great power) from a stroke.

      Since that day, you have become both my Muse AND my Mentor, and have helped me out in so many ways I can’t even begin to count ’em! You are the Queen of Saragun Springs and I am your loyal subject for the rest of my days on Earth! Because you understand where and when others cannot, will not, or do not want to. People like me only happen upon people like you once in a lifetime – and that is just one of the things that makes it feel like fate (and the fact that it feels like fate makes it even more meaningful). We all need to CREATE OUR OWN MEANING in this world, just like the Existentialists said; but we can’t do it utterly alone, just like they also said!

      The Good One is worth more forever than a billion (or more) bad ones…

      DB

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hi Dale
        Your words excel my ability to correctly reciprocate, but I am happy to hear them

        I can see Mr Tristram on the streets of Dublin, perhaps preventing Deadalus from getting to much of a thrashing.
        Two years! Time’s speed is out of hand but since we are all subjects of time, fair is fair.
        Leila

        Like

  3. DWB's avatar DWB says:

    Paul

    They saw a funeral walking by and the man Jesus was talking to said he needed to hurry away now and join the festivities because that was what was expected of him.

    Jesus’ response has survived through two millennia: “Let the dead bury their dead.” Whether you were putting this ancient wisdom into new form deliberately or whether you arrived at this sentiment on your own matters not at all. It is the same message in new words, and that is as important as it gets in writing anything! Jesus’ real and true message was about NOT following the herd AND about being positive in other crucial ways. He was such a complicated, complex, paradoxical, and astonishing figure that almost no one can handle the truth about him, whether that be the leaders of churches, the people sitting there passively listening, or the so-called intellectuals on the other side of the aisle who blame him for what others have done in his name while ignoring (and not understanding) the core of his essential message.

    Emily Dickinson said, “TELL ALL THE TRUTH BUT TELL IT SLANT.” You’ve done that here. What more could we ask?

    Dale

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment