JESUS SAVES, is written
in black magic marker, block letters
on the bathroom stall door
above, for a good time call
and some number & i
almost
do
but fear
if the pastor answers,
it might be all he has to offer
as if our happiness were the true measure
of a life
well lived.
written in response to the picture prompt, which can be viewed at Magpie Tales.
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94 comments:
oh, and you mean your number was not written on the phone booth wall for a good time? how disappointing!
Never trust those numbers written on bathroom doors. They're a trap. LOL.
love it Brian...
rob
Image & Verse
Love it.
Happiness is attained through a positive attitude and is measured in laughter ... particularly at oneself. :)
This was great, Brian. Especially the title, making the whole issue a non-issue.
I think you make a good point about the juxtaposition of Jesus and whores, pure love and selfish lust. They are never far apart; a fall is only one step across that line to the left of your pinky toe. At all times, we stand so very close to Christ and also catastrophe.
~Shawna
rosemarymint.wordpress.com
You paint a story with a few terse words. In the end, it might be just the only measure of a well lived life ~
Happy sunday ~
I like the way you portray the divine as kitsch. I suppose the person who does call for a 'good time' probably needs Jesus more than anybody to save them.
Call collect, happiness is often hard to come by. I like your take on this prompt Brian. Thanks for visiting my blog.
I'll have to go over and take a look at the picture. But knowing you, I will probably only get more confused. :-)
Those bathroom walls speak volumes, don't they? But they don't tell it all.
I don't know what other measure works better--maybe other people's happiness we helped create? Interesting and twisty take, bri. Read it several times and still chewing it over.
This is great Brian...I remember having to call my parents and having to use the payphone ...there were no cell phone in those days :)
Terrific write, Brian.
somehow this started a whole film in my head with all the people that i think have lived their life really well...and wondering what it is, they have in common..the measure... happiness isn't wrong though... i may should call this number..haha
A story written with few words. Awesome!
JJRod'z
i guess my thought is, if our lives are ordered only by our happiness, what happens when we are unhappy...we do something to make ourselves happy...and is that always the wisest mark to go by...
there's worse measures of our lives well lived beside happiness.
I am not always happy, sometimes the things that go on in my life and around me make me really sad...but that's mostly a good thing. If some things didn't bother me or make me sad, how shallow and uncaring would that make me? I don't measure my life's value on always being "happy" but on the terrific people that I'm surrounded with :)
Pastor's wife is giggling. And yet, there is some thinking to be done here, about the life well-lived... this is great writing, Brian, and thanks. Peace, Amy
PS Your Magpie link led me back to your home page. Can you re-post that link? Thanks!
http://sharplittlepencil.wordpress.com/2012/02/13/bobbis-mom-sunday-whirl/
Ahhh.....dual title?
Intended?
In the pirate world, No Quarter means: No Mercy..........
Like it!
;)
~Mimi
Collage Pirate
We all gauge life and happiness in different ways.
Very thought-provoking, Brian... love the ending.
"No quarter?" Does that mean that the Speaker was not using a pay toilet?
Beautifully done..the true measure of our days/ part happiness and then all the rest...and does the pastor deliver?
Good one.
Somewhat witty comments sometimes. But would not bother them! Just sickos mostly!
Hank
Maybe it is better to save the quarter... great poem, much enjoyed. Who wants to be happy all the time, we'd never appreciate the good times when they arrive.
So many counterfeits out there...
I sort of get the "for a good time" graffiti on bathroom walls, but what an odd place to proselytize.
'as if our happiness were the true measure
of a life
well lived.'
Oh, wise words Brian.
I suppose those "for a good time" notes are still on walls. I am not sure what kind of recommendation that would be. Maybe a Senator would answer. You never know.
A good life comes with happiness and sadness alike. That's what helps us grow and shapes our good life....
happiness is right in front of our noses most of the time and we just don't realize it or make the most of what is there. I think when we go out searching for it we usually are disappointed.
happiness is right in front of our noses most of the time and we just don't realize it or make the most of what is there. I think when we go out searching for it we usually are disappointed.
I never know what you're talking about...lol.
I agree that there needs to be more than one yard stick to measure our lives by...happiness can't be all we strive for. I don't think that would be a life well-lived.
LOL if you were afraid of long distance charges on your bill
You could have put "Dial me" then your number for a thrill
A well lived life cannot survive on happiness alone. Nice verse!
Always did wonder about those numbers written on the walls! Did anyone who called them ever actually have a good time?
Great irony in this, but I don't think I'd consider thatbthe Pastor would answer! lol But that you did certaonly speaks volumes about where Christianity sits these days. The ending here is so right on for the arc of irony thatbthe poem takes. To tell you the truth, I'm still pondering its meaning since it's directly linked to what the pastor might have to offer. I'm trying to think what it might be that is the measure of life well lived. But perhaps I don't understand the definition of happiness being put into play.
I like your poem a lot for several reasons. For one thing, the happenstance juxtaposition of two apparently irreconcilable statements creates a huge gulph to bridge. Rationally, it seems so contradictory that it forms the meat of comedy. On the other hand, you pkay it ironically; and for me irony is a threshold to religious understanding. That's because irony takes us out of our well worn reaction to words and steroetypical social thinking. It calls into question all values and their absolute claim to truth. This is what many philosophers have done since Socrates. That's what got him killed.
But Socrates was a deeply devout man, so it could be said that he used irony to prepare the soul for other truths. For him, these truths had to do with becoming a good person.
Okay this has gotten pretty long, so I'll stop. But let me just say that the second reason I like the poem is because it has a sense of wonder about it. A sense that you were somehow privy to not just a comedic accident, but to a poetic event. And your achievement is to have evoked that poetic moment in all its purity for us.
Ah, Brian, I have missed your poetry. I feel the base in my chest, sometimes, but not always. The lesson about happiness not equating to a life well lived is still one I am working on.
On your clarification. Yeah, I never thought otherwise than that you actually saw those on the stall. that's what the end of my long remark says. I also get it now what ypu meant by happiness, and I agree totally. Been there, dealing with it a little now personally, so I think we are both on the same page.
Hey, I also left a reply to your comment on the crows poem. A story about my anthro professor which you might find an interesting read. It's in reference to what ypu said on how weird it was that the crows were gabbing along with Indian.
It was so cool reading this and then guessing what the picture would be when I clicked over. Love it. I love how you can use so few words to convey a whole story.
This is a good poem, few words and a lot of meaning!
Wander
This went over my head three times, and I still don't think I get it.
Being a Lutheran by birth I definitely "get" this poem.
(One of my favorite overheard lines from NYC--"C'
mon, hurry! Life's too short to enjoy it!"
K.
thoughtful
direct
juxtaposition
good one!
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
I love it when people let a bit of darkness swarm in, to counteract all that light !.
Good one mate .
cool take on this prompt Brian ... very cool
Never trust a number written in a bathroom....and who can measure 'our' happiness?...good one.
I remember the telephone booths. Lots of interesting things written there.
This one seemed light, but then the ending is deep, deeper than most of us realize. Weather our life is measured (judged) or not, I hope we live a happy one.
Love it! Slightly ironic perhaps?
Yes, interesting. A life well lived I think he deserves to live .... Greetings and happy week.
Happiness and unhappiness are tightly woven together. With the one you can better appreciate the other. The are the two sides of the one coin you are given to play with...Just a theory... ;-)
nice job here brian, great use of contrast here, really makes one pause and think. Thanks
Wonderful Brian. and you do say a lot in a few words. you are gifted.
You made me smile with this one, Brian. Thank you.
Wonderful response. It never ceases to amaze me, seeing where these prompts can lead. This one's a beaut.
LOL! Well done!
Great title, would work well for a collection, Brian?
A thought provoking well-delivered piece:)
Why do they never say...
For a good time call Jesus.
Nice One!!
Take care
you never know what you will see on a bathroom wall...
...if only
Missed this one yesterday. Well, it was just a relevant and important today! The picture was a good one to go with this piece.
On the bathroom- don't you remember all the etchings on the plexi ???!!
ah well, fear of the preacher would have been something if I had ever thought of it...:)
I would love to hear some stories from people who have called those numbers!
Dear Brian,
I am in a happy period, made sweeter by the unhappy moments of my life. So, I guess the good and bad is important. That way you feel the full spectrum of being human.
It is strange that throughout the world, the phone numbers on the bathroom door have escalated. Like a virus spreading, it says,
We are all in the same place, and some of us are lonely.
Like your take on this prompt Brian. Love all the comments here. Intrigued by Charles Miller's serious analysis, love it, and smiling (kindly of course). Thanks for your explanation, which still leaves the wonder nearly untouched.
I gotta say, happiness is pretty darn important. I'd make the call. :)
I am with Ann,(comment before mine).. I am astounded by the comments, philosophies and introspection all concerning a phone number on a bathroom wall!.... er..and your poem about it. =D Brilliant!! It's a good thing there was NO QUARTER because, if you wrote about an answered call.... imagine the responses you may have received... a book's worth, perhaps. I love your staggered lines and reflections. Nice response, sir. Thanks for sharing.
How wonder how authentic those numbers are? Never tried them.
deep thoughts by b. miller. nicely stated. I like it a lot.
Sheila
We all seem to be taking different things from your poem Brian, but why am troubled by thoughts of the pastor leading a double life?
Well, I'm sick and tired of having your poetry speak my mind better than I do, so cut it out.
As if happiness were the ONLY measure... That is so true. In the late seventies, there was a specious book called "Happy All the Time" that seemed to strike people as almost a credo. My circle went, "Huh?" We were also told that as long as we smiled, all good would follow.
As if how we slog through, leap over, or transform the truly rotten does not count?
So stop wandering into my brain please.
Anyway, at least now you have my phone number...
"If the pastor answers" - it's enough to turn someone away from God.
Lovely!
What a cool take on the prompt Brian.....love this!!! :-)
you have never shied away from taking liberties !!! ....I got a dime says you can call long distance and be right there the whole time
Peace
I've been here for what seems like hours digesting all the comments .. which were all over the place. Intelligent and perceptive.
You bring out the best in us, Brian.
neat take on the prompt Brian...thanks for sharing again
Great contemplative poem... happiness is a very individual thing and surprisingly many of us do not understand that fact. I'm one of those but I try to remember that not everyone likes what I like and not everything that makes me happy will make someone else happy.
Being happy seems to be the goal of most people but have you ever noticed that some individuals really enjoy being miserable... so is that their happiness?
Yes, but the pursuit of happiness is written into the Constitution, so it must be. Thoughtful one, Brian.
Ah the quips and limericks of phone booth stalls; more nostalgia lost.
The pastor? ;0
rel
Brought this to mind:
"I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves." - Ludwig Wittgenstein
Well said! Many think that happiness is the measure....!!!
Hugs
SueAnn
amazing thought .. i quite liked it :)
What better measure is there? Still, a prayer is probably safer.
Great take, Brian.... while on the subject.....one of the worst things about watching my son's band play a gig is reading the little 'messages' on the toilet wall! I now know what some 'Sarah' has in for him if she ever gets him alone.....*ahem*
ps.....I now use the Gents.......!lol
I just love the irony of 'Jesus saves' written in black magic marker'.
"the solace of innocence" o! so true! lovely pics as well, thanks for the visit! :)
I'll have to admit, I've never called one of those stall graffiti numbers...
so many truths are left in the bathroom :)
Love this! One of my favorite takes on this prompt!
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