Darren L. Slider



More Than Victorious!







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DARREN L. SLIDER (B. 1967)

More Than Victorious!

© 1985



A battle against circumstance
fought with all the energy and ardor
that the human spirit can muster
from mind and heart
a fierce and sustained struggle
the apparent outcome of which
vacillates repeatedly
between invigorating visions
of glorious sunshine
and nightmarish glimpses
of eternal midnight

“No!” enunciates circumstance
firmly and gravely
“Non esse!” 1

The mind lies fallen
in a paralyzed stupor
completely drained of dynamic energy
by a crushing force
which wrenches from the heart
an agonized cry of utter defeat
as the sun goes supernova
extinguishing the moon and stars
permeating the atmosphere
with the lethal miasma
of life-denying despair
and vindictive bitterness
ushering in the deep midnight

A solitary but inextinguishable ray
of divine light
penetrates the thickest darkness
invigorating the mind
restoring the heart
in response to the surrender
of the human spirit

“NO!!” exults the human spirit
with an electrifying shout
evoked by the divine consciousness
“Non sequitur! 2 Dennoch preisen!!” 3

The human spirit
presses on through the darkness
in the light of the divine consciousness
which few can trace to its Source
and none but the human spirit can see

In innumerable and forthcoming
battles against circumstance
the light provides a vision
of glorious sunshine and spring without end
which sometimes fades from view
but never dies completely
so that in every bitter disappointment
in every agonizing wrench
in every humiliating defeat
the human spirit may emerge
more than victorious!



1(Latin) It is not to be!
2(Latin) It does not follow!
3(German) Praise nevertheless!!


Author's Note: I wrote this poem on the afternoon of July 25, 1985, in frustration at the loss by the San Diego Padres of a baseball game which they led going into the ninth inning. The title is an allusion to Romans 8:37. The melodramatic style is intentional, an ironic response to my idiosyncratic tendency to overreact to minor irritations while enduring major disasters with relative equanimity.