AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS
by Portia Nelson
Chapter I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.
Chapter II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in
the same place but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in... it's a habit.
My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter V
I walk down another street.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Autobiography in 5 short chapters
This is one of my all-time favorite poems. Thought I would share it with ya'll. Enjoy.
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I think I walked down the same street.
ReplyDeletelibby- do you have a blog of your own?
ReplyDeletekasamba, i hear you. i think a lot of people get stuck in chapter 4. over and over again we fight these battles, but sometimes we're so busy fighting that we don't even see that other streets exist.
unless, hey- i think maybe you were mocking this. im a little dense sometimes- can u please clear this up?? thank you.
No, I think she was with you. I'm always on 3 or 4. Always.
ReplyDeleteactually, im currently in chapter 4 and a half:
ReplyDeleteI walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I want to fall in.
Instead, i just sit on the edge of the hole wishing i had the courage to either jump in or get up and discover that new street.
sigh.
it is hard to get to number 5, think i'm also stuck somewhere around 4 often.
ReplyDeletePN - Oooh, I think THAT's me. :)
ReplyDeleteyea well. been thinking about this a lot. any thoughts on how to make that transition from stage IV to V?
ReplyDeletei just sat here for 5 minutes trying to think of a funny line to end with, but my mind's blank. o well. the humour will come in it's own time.
Finding a nicer street - no longer thinking about the hole or whatever we like on the first one, but on what the other street has to offer us.
ReplyDelete