The relay
I know I must, but how, I ask;
I must understand that of which to ponder.
Action waits for thought,
and thought seems far away;
action is distrusting.
Is it this or that;
how does this impact that,
how does that get impacted?
Action’s fate depends on thought;
if thought runs too far or not enough,
action is disqualified.
-zumwalt apr ’98
zumpoems 
Comments on: "The relay" (13)
I love the last verse “Action’s fate depends on thought; if thought runs too far or not enough,action is disqualified.” Go ponder now. I like it !
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Brilliant and who hasn’t had “thoughts” like this?? 🙂
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Nice! This is just so in tune with some things that have been going in my mind lately. Thank you for the visit!
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i really like this thoughtful poem…action without thought is of not much use usually… unfortunately action doesn’t always seem to wait for thoughts or until the thoughts are really thought really through.. maybe there are such things as action on instincts and it’s necessary but maybe that’s the exceptions…see… you made me think…and i will ponder on.. smiles.. happy saturday
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Beautiful! I feel like this so much of the time, if, as I understand it, this is the thought you mean to put across. Sometimes I ponder too much and nothing ever gets done, when, so much of the time, we should perhaps trust our instincts, which are too often ignored.
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wonderful poem with a see-saw effect in the thought process, pushing and pulling painting confussion with every line (~_~) . action with-out thought is on a crash course
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Zum, very, very, VERY helpful reminder in this great poem here today: Our reach must exceed our grasp, yet we must not overextend ourselves. Such a constant delightful challenge to maintain balance! Yin and yang, etc. As a junior high school relay runner at my school, I SO relate to the admonition not to reach too far out in front, causing disqualification for leaning over the starting line. And if you lean to far out in front (think TOO far ahead), you won’t be there for the handoff behind you! LOVE THIS ANALOGY! Most effective!
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granbee,
Thanks. I think this poem is easier to relate to if you have been a 2nd, 3rd or 4th leg of a relay.
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I read it 3 times to try and understand your thoughts.
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dribblingpensioner,
Thanks for taking the time to drill down to understand. I didn’t give it the proper formatting when originally posted — my apologies.
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willowdot21, Yesenia, claudia, David, zendictive, granbee and dribbling pensioner,
Thanks much for reading and commenting!
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nice…you def get me thinking as you def have to have a balance between the two in order to make wise choices…
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Zum, not only do I really like this, it’s very timely for me. Thought trips up action, sometimes you can’t even get started. How you manage the two together is a big deal. Thanks for a great poem!
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