The Illogicality of Commonsense
By Stanley Collymore
At first I wasn’t in the least interested in you.
But then, why should I be? You, after all,
are an unmarried and out-of-work mum
just turned 23 and, additionally and
quite evidently in the general mix
of things and significantly for
me, the single parent to
a five year old son.
On the other hand I’m much older than
you; am mutually and longstandingly
divorced with no dependent
children to take care of or seriously
worry about as they’re all now adults in
their own right; and who furthermore
have voluntarily and with my full
blessing vacated their parental
home to creditably create
productive and very
successful lives
of their own.
Smoothing the progression to a relished and
even selfish situation on my part, as you
can clearly see, where I’m entirely
free without the obligatory
familial responsibilities
I previously had: challenging yet delightfully
rewarding as these were, to now possess
and thoroughly enjoy the satisfactory
and even perfect life I happily
have and can comfortably
as well afford to lead.
Or worst luck, were this not so, find myself
seductively entreated by and even possibly
succumbing to the unrelenting forces
of unwarranted encumbrances or
emotional complications, that were I not
to strictly maintain my vigilance or be
resolutely level-headed enough
concerning such matters that
realistically could disastrously affect me
romantically, emotionally or even financially
and thus proscribe my ability to pre-emptively
and resourcefully head them off before they step
in and, unfortunately for me, irreparably ruin
the solace, peace of mind and the general
contentment with life which I have,
would unquestionably, I must confess,
be nothing less than an out and
out major catastrophe!
So why then, other than by virtue of temporary
insanity, should I perversely risk any or all
that I’ve diligently worked for in life and
fortunately have for someone like you, who
moreover is half my age, has nothing comparable
in exchange to offer me, and whose personal life
at twenty three has only just begun – even though
it’s been copiously littered, fraught with and
punctuated by numerous contradictions,
life-changing mistakes: some of them avoidably
so but nevertheless dare-deviledly embarked
upon by you and thoughtlessly brought
upon yourself; or come to that
ill-judgements galore?
While in marked contrast my life: very organized,
considerably experienced and cerebrally thought
out, couldn’t be any more different from yours. And
while too, sensibly, pragmatically and using every
adjectival definition that I can think of to bolster
this opinion of you and confidently reassure
myself you’re undeniably the wrong
woman for me, why then is commonsense,
notwithstanding all this and with its characteristically
routine and punctiliously active participation in
everything that I do; now choosing instead
to deliberately take a backseat in this
singular confrontation between
my heart and my head?
© Stanley V. Collymore
7 April 2013.
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