Every morning I sally forth
into the world, my pockets
are full of stones.
You cannot see them
where my hands are hid
sometimes bruised by their edge.
O, a quick and deadly aim
have I, and ask no questions.
My hands are cold.
And few stones left have I
at each day’s end,
and groan as my hands bleed.
My state — who can endure?
As morning breaks I know again
I have more stones to cast.
You cannot see them
where my hands close
and all my days bleed.
Who will close my morning,
O, who will empty
my pockets of my stones?
this poem speaks so much of my life right now. every morning, i wake up and feel like i want to go back to dreamland again, for there, i don’t keep worries, i dont need to say much to be understood and i can be myself without prejudice. For people cannot see that i bleed, that i feel pain no man could endure and that worries overpower my sense of security. Sometimes, i wonder why people need each other to live when we can actually get through the day by ourselves. maybe because having a life doesn’t mean living it for a day. life is a whole set of days, months and years of living and dying slowly. Each of us has to cast our own stones, deal with our own worries and live the life we’re given, so i guess i’m not different from everybody else.
it’s just that i wanted to feel special for a moment, just for a day.
(this poem was written by one of Philippine’s greatest writers, Prof. Gemino Abad. This poem is included in his collection “Poems and Parables” published by UP Press in 2002. )
June 22nd, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Each and every day, we have to cast our stones - our worries, pains and burdens. We must not keep it in ourselves. We have to deal with it and live it in a right way. Though we could get through the day even by ourselves, we still need somebody.For in that way, we feel special and live the day as if it is a nice dream.
June 22nd, 2007 at 10:29 pm
The first time I read the poem I actually can’t understand what the author was trying to say… But after I read the paragraph below the poem, it was the time that I have understood that it is all about life- that we should learn to fight with the problems that we would be encountering.
June 23rd, 2007 at 1:53 am
Burdens and problems are inevitable. We need to hurdle over these obstacles each day in our lives. We may think that we can get through it alone, but we need to have someone whom we can get our strength.
Stones weaken our souls. It is because they make us worry. Let us just think that there’s always a brighter day. We may not be able to remove these stones, but what matters most is the positive strenghth we have in our hearts.
Such a nice poem, by the way…
June 24th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
We are but humans, we need each other to relieve us from our sufferings, to comfort us… keeping our troubles to our selves makes the pain more excruciating…Each and everyone of us has our own stones to cast everday of our lives… this stones symbolizes our troubles and anxieties… some people might not notice it, but we are already bleeding within…
June 24th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
“Walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang”, remember that song? Human need each other to live in the world. And due to the fact that we are just a human being we may encounter each of our stones in facing our lives. But don’t be discouraged by them, look for its positive side/s and always remember that “stones” are used to sharpen us and mold us into a creature God wanted us to be.
June 24th, 2007 at 11:29 pm
This poem speaks for itself. In life, we are challenged to stand amidst the hardships that come our way. When we succeed, we tend to search for new challenges. This way, we are slowly molded to who we are now and to who we want to become.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:35 am
We can’t deny the fact that if there’s a great obstacle that is coming in our life, we really wish that we could go back in our old days where we just have fun_ but we can’t do this forever…we really do have to mingle with other people in order for us to cope up with our problems and anxieties, as said “no man is an island”…we really can’t survive w/o the help of others…
July 1st, 2007 at 6:17 pm
In the parable of stones, it was written that his pockets are full of stones. The stones represent our problems, worries and all the things that give us pain. Nevertheless, these stones help us become robust and to think how to overcome these kinds of problems once again. These pockets that are full of stones may not be emptied because humans do not run out of problems. I believe that no man is an island. So we really need someone to unload these stones.
July 1st, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Each person in this world has its own stones in his/her pocket. We have our own problems we need to endure.
but we need to thank God that He gave this problems because this makes us strong, and a better person if you will just treat this and you don’t run away to your problems.
just keep on believing that you can pass this problems.
the poem really reflects the life of the people around the world. very nice
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
Only a few knows me that well.. Yah, i keep grudges.. I keep it for myself.. I have lots of worries.. I keep it for myself.. Before, i was full of hatred.. i kept it for myself.. Nobody knows all of that.. except for one..
People see me laugh.. They think i have nothing to worry about.. They’re wrong.. I make things inside of me invisible.. My wounded soul hide at the back of the shadows of my smiles.. Oh yes! I’m a great pretender..T.T
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:47 pm
Only a few knows me that well.. Yah, i keep grudges.. I keep it for myself.. I have lots of worries.. I keep it for myself.. Before, i was full of hatred.. i kept it for myself.. Nobody knows all of that.. except for one..
People see me laugh.. They think i have nothing to worry about.. They’re wrong.. I make things inside of me invisible.. My wounded soul hides at the back of the shadows of my smiles.. Oh yes! I’m a great pretender..T.T
July 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
The poem is not hard to comprehend. Human as we are, we need care, comfort and love. We also have to set goals and reach for our dreams. And for us to achieve them, we should carry the stones which are worth the success. We all bleed, we all are pained, but only few can endure. After we are molded with these experiences, we are assured that we can face new challenges in our lives. However, we can’t do these by ourselves. We need other people too. On the process, we can feel and have our emotional needs which would supplement our journey from these people. Don’t feel alone with your voyage. For each step that you take, there is a hand that carries you through.
July 8th, 2007 at 1:21 am
i definitely love this poem… it talks about life… we humans have are own weakness… this poem only says no man is an island… and were not perfect!
July 18th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
sometimes human pretend that things are going in the right direction… but then let us remember that we are not perfect and sometimes we just need someone to lean on…
July 26th, 2007 at 4:23 am
the poem was great.it somehow define situations in life. like those stones, it represent the trials that we experienced in our lives. how we handle it is just like the way we cast it…
the essence is that whatever ways you cast the stone, how far it goes or how near, it adds to your personality. so the next time you handle and cast a stone, your hands will bleed no more.
July 29th, 2007 at 12:36 am
To be perfectly human, one must be imperfect. Trials are part of our life. Through it, we can learn a lot that will eventually leads us into a better person. We must accept those trials and we must not pretend that we are okay, even if we are not. For it is not all the time that we can help ourselves, having someone to lean on is sometimes a better option.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:57 am
Problems will always be there to test us, to make us a better and strong peson. the point is that, we have our own failures, weaknessess and we can never run away from them. we just don’t have to dwell too much on it, for what have done is already done. we should learn to move on and not to commit the same mistakes again. this is life, and life is not always what we wanted it to be. we may stumble down but what we need to do is to get up and collect ourselves back again. Problems are not to be keep, they should be casted upon in order for us to continue moving on.
August 17th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
reading this entry reminds me that i also need to relax,rest,and have a break from the strenuous activities in school.it seems that my life was in hell each day in UP-and I’m tired.but I’m proud to myself because so far i surpass all those trials that once came into my life.and the bottom line is- life is like a puzzle, trials are the missing pieces to complete our lives for us to become better persons.
August 26th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
i love this poem…this entry talks about life.., it’s true that problems and obstacles are inevitable that’s why we must face them…i believe that facing our own problems will make us grow and i am thankful that i have my friends that i can lean on…they taught me that those trials that i have now will just make me a better person.