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Thread: Despair
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  1. TopTop #1
    Star Man's Avatar
    Star Man
     

    Despair

    The psychologist Erik Erikson proposed there are eight stages of psychosocial development across a human's life span. As I have argued, cultures and civilizations pass through the same psychosocial stages as an individual. The final stage in Erikson's analysis is "Ego Integrity versus Despair." Individuals enter this stage at about age 65. America and much of the rest of the world appear to have pinballed through the earlier stages and are now trapped in the despair antipode. With that background I offer this poem on the last day of January, 2020.
    Star Man

    Despair

    Despair incinerates the skies above Australia
    Despair irradiates the waters off Fukushima
    Despair melts the glaciers of Greenland
    Despair lies to the American people
    Despair cuts medical coverage for pre-existing conditions
    Despair erects a useless wall across America's southern border
    Despair sprays Round-up on vegetable crops
    Despair infects 7,000 Chinese with coronavirus
    Despair rapes girls in India and Africa
    Despair impregnates 360,000 women per day world-wide
    Despair denies global climate change
    Despair cancels social security benefits
    Despair starves immigrants to death
    Despair murders Amazon activists trying to protect the mato grosso
    Despair tortures logic
    Despair reduces taxes on the billionaire class
    Despair abuses wives and girlfriends and children
    Despair bombs Afghani wedding parties
    Despair prays for the End Times
    Despair poisons the drinking water of the nation
    Despair fracks sacred monuments
    Despair obliterates protections for rivers and the atmosphere
    Despair suicides 123 Americans per day
    Despair shoots children and their mothers
    Despair votes against having witnesses in the impeachment trial

    Despair weeps for the destruction of our home planet
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  2. Gratitude expressed by 6 members:

  3. TopTop #2
    Star Man's Avatar
    Star Man
     

    Re: Despair

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Star Man: View Post
    America and much of the rest of the world appear to have pinballed through the earlier stages and are now trapped in the despair antipode. With that background I offer this poem on the last day of January, 2020.
    Star Man

    Despair

    Despair incinerates the skies above Australia......


    Despair weeps for the destruction of our home planet
    I have been so very grateful for the expressions of gratitude that I have received for this post on Despair. As an author I fight against despair every day. How to keep writing in the face of all the events that produce such a profound despair? Knowing that I have a little audience here on WaccoBB that appreciates my writing and sends me gratitudes helps alleviate the despair and gives me a push to keep on expressing myself. Star Man
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  5. TopTop #3
    sealwatcher's Avatar
    sealwatcher
    Supporting member

    Re: Despair

    Because your despair so closely matches my own and others, sharing that darkness opens a crack in the wall and allows hope in again, or at least the sense that there is a world worthy of our continued attempts to bring about.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Star Man: View Post
    I have been so very grateful for the expressions of gratitude that I have received for this post on Despair. ..
    Last edited by Barry; 02-03-2020 at 03:02 PM.
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  7. TopTop #4
    Shandi's Avatar
    Shandi
     

    Re: Despair

    This piece captures of so many people on our planet. I re-posted on my FB page, and am
    sharing with friends on Quora. Are you a member of Quora, or Medium or other sites where
    your writing can be shared?


    A friend of mine just committed suicide last month; it was his 3rd attempt in several years.
    He was completely alone in the world, except for me. We'd been intimate partners for 5
    years from 2002, and I know that I brought joy into his very sad life. But his depression and
    despair became too much for me to bear. I continued to support him even to the last day of
    his life. He always refused therapy, relying only on cannabis and legal drugs.


    My own despair keeps me isolated, and writing to support, encourage and inspire others is my only solace.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Star Man: View Post
    Despair

    Despair incinerates the skies above Australia
    Despair irradiates the waters off Fukushima...
    Last edited by Barry; 02-03-2020 at 03:02 PM.
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  8. TopTop #5
    cyberanvil
    Guest

    Re: Despair

    I admire your creativity, but I don't agree with your rationalizations. If I did then I'd be in the same boat as you. A place I choose not to be. Hopelessness is such a dead end.
    Last edited by Barry; 02-03-2020 at 03:04 PM.
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  10. TopTop #6
    wisewomn's Avatar
    wisewomn
     

    Re: Despair

    Here are some antidotes:

    https://reasonstobecheerful.world/we-are-not-doomed/

    https://reasonstobecheerful.world/the-decade-in-cheer/
    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Star Man: View Post
    ...
    Despair

    Despair incinerates the skies above Australia
    Despair irradiates the waters off Fukushima...
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