Tick lists

Tick Lists

Sei-Shonagon lived in the 10th century Japanese court,  and kept a journal structured as a series of lists of "things". Things that make one's heart beat faster,  awkward things,  things that have lost their power, and so on. Her book can be read in translation as The Pillow Book, and is rather wonderful.

Today's challenge is to write a Sei-Shonagon style list of things.  I sketched out a few ideas,  and may well come back to them,  but this poem took shape in my head instead. After I'd finished it I realised it has come out as a sort of a list too, with pros and cons! Love that, it's so revealing about myself!


All my life I've made lists,
Bullet point lists of Things To Do,
Sub bulleted - quicker to tick off once they're done.
They give a shape to the task in hand
Stop panic,  create order from chaos,
Allow a sense of achievement.

Lists have their place -
Make shopping more effective,
Help my failing memory -
But once when on the brink of a life-changing decision
I made a list of pros and cons
Saw what made best logical sense
And went with my heart anyway.

So be careful:
Lists can rule your life,
Place blinkers on your vision,
Encourage playing safe,
Stop you reaching out for the unexpected.
So now when I make a list
I always leave spaces
For things to creep in.


© Copyright 2019. Chris Auger. All Rights Reserved




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