When Enough Is Not Sufficient

 

Gore Vidal (American Writer 1925-2012)

 

Enough is enough!

Not always, I would say,

For some it might be

And that depends on the day.

 

Enough may very well be

A marker in the mind

That might be pretty nebulous

Most of the time.

 

It is like having a marker

And reaching it too

But then not being satisfied

Having shifted the view.

 

You may have heard

About “moving the goal posts”,

That used to be the goal

Until the aim was for the most.

 

 

Enough is not sufficient

When somebody else has more,

This is a clear case of avarice

Or simply put, greed to the core.

 

Enough was sufficient

But such is no longer for me,

As long as someone is ahead

That is all I see.

 

Maybe that is the reason

We now aim for something more,

Satisfaction is no longer achievable

Though we have much in store.

 

Think of the world’s billionaires

And what they have achieved,

Yet strangely, they are behaving

Like they are still in need.

  

It’s because somebody has more

And they are not at the top

Hence, redoubling their effort

Until they achieve the top spot.

 

 

Error! Not really you know,

And I will tell you why,

They must now increase the gap

So no one can pass them by.

 

Enough is not sufficient

Even if I have more than enough,

If I do not have the most

Then for me “Things are rough”.

 

Meanwhile they are those

That can only get a crumb

And for them, enough is not sufficient

Because somebody has the bun.

 

Stewart Russell © December 31, 2020

 

Hidden in Plain Sight

 

 

“Hidden in plain sight”

I am sure you have heard this phrase,

No doubt you have experienced it too

And it left you in a daze.

 

How could you not have seen it?

It was there in plain sight,

And what was even more amazing

There was no lack of the light.

 

It’s been my experience here of late;

I know you would call it old age,

That I have been looking for something

And couldn’t find it at that stage.

 

Sometimes I would forget about it

And occupy the time otherwise

After which, it would suddenly turn up

As though it had been disguised.

 

No, there wasn’t any disguise,

It was hidden in plain sight,

And I may have looked right where it was

But it did not come to light.

 

 

It is like an optical illusion

I am sure you have experienced this,

Although, it was right before your sight

For some reason you still missed.

 

Camouflaged maybe, or the colour

Or maybe, a trick of the light,

I have been there on many occasions

It was hidden in plain sight.

 

Sometimes you have a laugh

After experiencing this phenomenon,

But if there is a serious consequence

Then that becomes a problem.

  

Like true satisfaction in life

Like that which the world searches after,

Which when one truly finds it

Brings them joy and laughter.

 

Joy in the midst of life’s storms

And laughter not as in merriment,

But laughter that resonates within

When we truly and genuinely repent.

 

Satisfaction that’s hidden in plain sight,

But obstructed by our impaired vision,

As we look in all the wrong places;

Sometimes we even search religion.

 

Reminds me of a song I used to hear,

“He was there all the time”,

And even now Jesus waits patiently

But to other things we are inclined.

 

O yes!  He is hidden in plain sight

And he calls, “My child won’t you come?”

But your attention is somewhere else

And your very hope you shun.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020