{"id":1616,"date":"2022-04-25T12:19:30","date_gmt":"2022-04-25T19:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/?p=1616"},"modified":"2022-04-25T12:22:38","modified_gmt":"2022-04-25T19:22:38","slug":"thwarted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevegillard.com\/erleichda\/2022\/04\/25\/thwarted\/","title":{"rendered":"Thwarted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

Thwarted<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Plan was
\nPerfect.<\/p>\n

First, a Walk
\nin The Enchanted
\nForest.
\nThen, a Visit
\nto an Artfully
\nNotorious Nursery.
\nWith the Third and
\nFinal Act a
\nTable for Two
\nat a Coffeeshop
\nthat might,
\nwith a twist of
\nThe Imagination,
\nbe a portal to
\nThe Mystery.<\/p>\n

But The Plan
\nvanished in
\na puff of
\nexhaust smoke
\nwhen the Forest
\nwas overrun
\nwith carloads of
\noverrunners.<\/p>\n

Thwarted!<\/p>\n

The Nursery seemed
\nsuddenly bereft of its
\nbeguilements
\nuntil I
\nremembered:<\/p>\n

A Wise One
\nsaid:
\n\u201cIf The Plan
\ncomes to What Is
\nNaught,
\nembrace
\nWhat Is.\u201d<\/p>\n

I assented,
\nand The Mystery
\nreturned my
\nEmbrace.<\/p>\n

Every green and
\nbudded thing,
\nevery vine and branch,
\nin that
\nNotorious Nursery,
\npulled me in
\nclose, and
\nwhispered Secrets,
\nas if we were
\nLovers.<\/p>\n

Even stacks
\nof cardboard flats
\nseemed artfully
\narranged by
\nMichelangelo.<\/p>\n

When we
\ndeparted with
\ngreat gratitude,<\/p>\n

and travelled
\non to the
\nCoffeeshop of
\nMystery,<\/p>\n

we were already
\nswimming in it.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Annie Spratt; UnSplash)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Thwarted The Plan was Perfect. First, a Walk in The Enchanted Forest. Then, a Visit to an Artfully Notorious Nursery. With the Third and Final Act a Table for Two at a Coffeeshop that might, with a twist of The Imagination, be a portal to The Mystery. But The Plan vanished in a puff […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t