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You Can’t Control Everything

You can’t control the wind that blows,
The destiny of others’ souls,
Time and tides and what they bring—
You can’t control everything.

Blame volcanoes for ash and dust,
It makes no diff’rence, you can trust.
Bees and wasps and hornets’ sting—
You can’t control everything.

Inexorably bodies waste away:
Cells are dying every day.
Sweat and dirt will leave a ring.
You can’t control everything.

Nature has its way with men.
Earthquakes and storms will come again.
Wolves will howl and birds will sing.
You can’t control everything.

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For We’ll Fight On

The fabric of our nation unravels at the seams.
The moths and worms devouring American dreams.
The world that we envisioned: a torn up holy shroud.
The threads are used to gag us and tear us from the crowd.

While devils in high places manage to destroy,
We hold the power of righteousness—we must now deploy,
For we’ll fight on within the tattered darkness left,
Until we see new tapestries within the cleft.

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LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 5,000 poems in 78 of his 101 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.

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18 Responses

  1. Russel Winick

    Thanks for your optimism, Roy. Let’s hope that the unraveling of our nation’s fabric isn’t one of the things we can’t control.

    Reply
  2. James Sale

    You certainly can’t control everything, and it is only maniacs who think they can. Nicely written Roy and I particularly like that last contrasting pair: ‘Wolves will howl and birds will sing.’ Whilst the poem has a central theme, there is the other underlying issue: we cannot control good or bad!

    Reply
  3. Paul A. Freeman

    You Cannot Control Everything is philosophical and liltingly melancholy, I felt. Of course, it is in our power to help increase bee populations, or build stronger houses to stand up to the ever-unpredictable elements, so it’s not all doom and gloom. I feel for the sake of the generations to come we need to try to find silver linings where we can. As for the wolves, we’re reintroducing them in various countries (Spain comes to mind), though not all residents are happy at the howling.

    ‘For We’ll Fight On’. I don’t think anyone can debate that things are unravelling. The debate is on how it can be fixed, which causes even more unraveling.

    Thanks for the thoughtful reads, Roy.

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      Those are wonderfully thoughtful comments that reflect my own hopes and fears. The second poem I felt complemented the first in that we have the capacity to fight on even under adverse circumstances, much of which seems out of our control.

      Reply
  4. Brian A. Yapko

    Both of these are excellent, Roy, and give the reader much food for thought. “We’ll Fight On” is frightening as you describe the unraveling process even to the point of a “torn up holy shroud.”

    My favorite of the two is “You Can’t Control Everything.” Wiser words were never said. Nature does indeed have its way with men nor can we control other peoples’ destinies. But implicit in your work, I believe, is the idea that you can control some things — those situations where one may invoke courage “to change the things one can” as they say in the Serenity Prayer. Your poem says “You Can’t Control Everything.” It does not say “You Can’t Control Anything.”

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      Great perceptive comment, Brian. One of my thoughts is we waste too much time attempting to control the things we cannot control and too little focusing on the things we can. As I mentioned in the comment above, the second poem attempts to encourage all to “fight on” for those things we can change for the good and at least improve.

      Reply
  5. Mike Bryant

    Great and thought-provoking poems Roy.
    Yes,the world is unraveling because the middle class is disappearing. The money is moving up to the top 1%. Thousands of new policies are causing this migration of money. How much money moved toward Pharma and their government investors and enablers in the last few years? How much money is moving into the military/industrial complex and its enablers and investors in government? Why, for only the tiniest of examples, is AOC, recently an impoverished bartender, now a millionaire and member of the 1%?
    The middle class is almost gone, and our children are being frozen out of the good life.

    https://www.denver7.com/news/national/two-americas/what-happens-if-the-middle-class-disappears

    Yes, the world is unraveling because of the radical elite. The new class of one percenters ushered in by the policies of the WEF and its enablers in our government.
    A recent Rasmussen Poll reveals what the middle class is up against.

    https://www.libertynation.com/rasmussen-poll-unmasks-the-radical-elite/

    Reply
    • Roy Eugene Peterson

      Great sharing of information that is relevant and true! Our American dream in fact is unraveling! Thank you, Mike!

      Reply
  8. Shamik Banerjee

    Thank you for these powerful poems, Mr. Peterson. “You Can’t Control Everything” tells us that there’s a higher power who’s in charge, and man has only limited control over things and processes. The essence of optimism that pervades through your second poem is highly felt. Love both pieces.

    Reply
  9. Warren Bonham

    Some great phrases throughout but I really like “torn up holy shroud” – and when I say I like it, I mean it is very well crafted while also being a depressing description of what we’ve done with our country. As you point out, we have no choice but to fight on.

    Reply
  10. Margaret Coats

    Roy, I like “For We’ll Fight On” because of the fabric imagery well employed in almost every line. The “torn up holy shroud,” in relation to American dreams, must mean the religion we’ve abandoned or let the devils take from us. This needs to be public, as it once was, not just little private devotions of whoever chooses to practice them. We owe God something. My favorite lines are the couplet following “we must now deploy,” itself a clause of command. Not enough of us have done night training to deal with the tattered darkness. Finishing “within the cleft” is great. It’s a Biblical and liturgical metaphor for a natural shelter provided by God, in whom we trust.

    Reply
  11. Roy Eugene Peterson

    Amen, Margaret! “For We’ll Fight On” is a call to action for those of us who remember a God-fearing culture that gave us the American dream in the first place. “…night training to deal with the tattered darkness” is a brilliant phrase that provides a perfect image of one of the primary things that is needed and is practical. Prayer is only the beginning.

    Reply

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