notes from an unholstered life by Elizabeth Jill if you cannot be kind then be a tree that shades kindness if you cannot be a tree then be the rain that nourishes trees if you cannot be the rain then be a dove if you cannot be a dove then be the sky letting a dove fly if you cannot be the sky then be the stone unflung this poem was first writ with crayola on Big Chief® then chalk on sidewalk edited to a hopscotch frame game on me hopping one twothree four fivesix landing one legged on seven crimped vertebræ mid-spine but, oh, rock in hand grenade caught smudging eightnine into graffitti handcuffed to a peripatetic lemma Rock on Rock on Rock on edited May 20 2009 05/08/2009 Author's Note: re: edit on May 20th, 2009: This is what a mixture of genuine encouragement and healthy critique are capable of doing. New tries. Evolving writing. Involved Writing. Thank you. I have so much growing ahead of me. I am, we are, best served by listening with benefit of the doubt. Posted on 05/08/2009 Copyright © 2025 Elizabeth Jill Member Comments on this Poem Posted by Colleen Sperry on 05/08/09 at 01:29 PM I like this.. good thoughts to starts this day! Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 05/08/09 at 02:57 PM amen.... thanks for these gentle options. Posted by Kris Mara on 05/08/09 at 03:57 PM some great wisdom imparted here...changes the tone of my outlook today, in fact...thank you Posted by Joan Serratelli on 05/08/09 at 04:11 PM Thanks for this- it really touched my soul. Your outlook on life is so apparent in this piece. I really loved every word! Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 05/08/09 at 06:27 PM Interior presence cannot occupy the human soul at the same time that it is occupied by hatred. So what you ask here is not only needed but should be strictly enforced, and reinforced, in every beating heat. We must get up from the street and give encouragement away. Thanks. Posted by George Hoerner on 05/08/09 at 07:47 PM Nicely done Jill. Oh go ahead, throw a stone at me. ha ha Posted by Jean Mollett on 05/09/09 at 02:51 AM Hi Jill, Great write, just lovely. I added this to my favorites list. Yes indeed, kindness goes along ways. We need more of it, for sure. Instead of all the meaness, evil stuff, etc. Very wise and gentle. :) Posted by Clara Mae Gregory on 05/09/09 at 06:29 PM I love your latest work here, too! I love the philosophical play on the words but the last line is killer- to be the stone unflung. So, cool! Posted by Paul Lastovica on 05/09/09 at 08:19 PM i've always thought myself a rock. and now, i am convinced this is what i am... the unflung stone. sitting. waiting. Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 05/10/09 at 11:51 PM Great use of metaphors. The message clear to me--if you can't be kind--don't be unkind! Posted by Aaron Michael on 05/11/09 at 12:06 AM a stone unflung can be anything. you're a genius, and that special kind that only comes once. Posted by D. James McKee on 05/12/09 at 07:32 AM The pen draws its inspiration from the heart's well: I am honoured to know such a soul as Jill. Posted by Maria Massarella on 05/17/09 at 08:29 PM at times to be the tiniest stone unflung in the hand of one can be the first humble step that lifts heartseyes to love, to the sky and the peace that is... this and more in your beautiful words of wisdom Jill angel lovelight*peace...m.a Posted by Rhiannon Jones on 05/18/09 at 04:11 AM ....or.....if you can't say something nice, then refrain. You've said it beautifully. Posted by Rhiannon Jones on 05/18/09 at 04:29 AM ...and that stone unflung has been haunting me. Perfect metaphor. Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 05/18/09 at 01:35 PM Great spiritual poem, with an ocean, or should I say a sky of Zen to swim in. Posted by Ken Harnisch on 05/18/09 at 01:41 PM Oh that last couplet is superb! I keep reading it, over and over, stunned and silent in my appreciation Posted by Sandy M. Humphrey on 05/18/09 at 02:16 PM Whenever I see your name next to post I delight knowing that it will truly be a treat. Today no exception. I muttered to myself as I drove to work cry no foul, do no harm which is from one of my poems and now I just want to be that unflung stone...or better yet the dove for I truly love to fly. Bless you, for sharing and caring. smh Posted by Laura Doom on 05/19/09 at 09:27 AM Yeh -- let's hear it for the doves... Posted by Ava Blu on 05/19/09 at 07:42 PM I think the title is wonderful, but I'm afraid this doesn't speak to me at all. It's much too simple, if not a tad immature, for my tastes. Posted by Laura Doom on 05/20/09 at 01:47 PM That's an honest interpretation -- another is that the writer has attempted to match the voice of the poem with its message. In that case, the style of delivery could be regarded as a rhetorical device, and the voice as child-like, rather than childish. I guess immaturity is in the eye of the beholder; I didn't see this in the same way as Ava, but then our tastes are evidently different :>) Posted by JD Clay on 05/20/09 at 09:29 PM This is a right brain - left brain journey down/up the sidewalk of life. Your raw talent is only exceded by your prophetic nature. Another double-whammy. Posted by Ava Blu on 05/21/09 at 02:49 AM There are some really great lines in the edit. The two sides don't flow together completely to me, but I can appreciate and see the point. Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 10/03/09 at 10:32 AM and if you cannot be any of these, then be Jilly, who is the equivalent of all the above and more, and if you cannot be Jilly, then you may as well unfold the tent, cause the Greatest Show On Earth is O'er. Posted by Clara Mae Gregory on 12/23/09 at 11:44 PM I love seeing this evolution right before my eyes! I love it even more! You are truly an artist with words. Posted by Glenn Currier on 07/13/10 at 03:00 AM I read in your poem a kind of freedom manifesto writ upon a public space so that we might walk among each diamondline. I like the way you encourage people to create/be in whatever way suits them and their personality or gift. A liberating message. Wonderful poem interesting surrounding notes. Return to the Previous Page   pathetic.org Version 7.3.2 May 2004 Terms and Conditions of Use 0 member(s) and 2 visitor(s) online All works Copyright © 2025 their respective authors. Page Generated In 0 Second(s)