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After If
—with affection and all respect for dear Rudyard
If you can keep your heart when all about you
Are stretching reason to its reasoned end;
Ignore all form and pretense, without scoffing,
And jesting always, care that none offend;
If you refuse to wait, but praise each moment,
And make it burst with dear, impassioned life;
Embody your full range of love and loathing,
But not take sides in other people’s strife…
If you can listen well without believing;
And think—but grant your thoughts no special claim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can celebrate with heart of gladness
A world unknown but glimpsed through veils of tears;
If you embrace the fullness of your losses,
But see clearly past imaginary fears…
If you can laugh when nonsense that you utter
Is analyzed by critics and deemed grand,
And write profound philosophy on water,
Build a splendid castle out of sand;
If you can preach a sermon fraught with laughter,
And, serving kings, become the jester’s knave;
Disburse your treasures to the undeserving,
And throw away the pennies that you save…
And cast your love with just this same abandon,
Feel gratitude for joys that come your way;
Doubt neither your own virtue nor your brother’s,
Break every rule to guarantee fair play;
If you can lose your fear of squandered minutes,
And fall in love with all that’s free and wild,
Yours is the Void and all the life that’s in it,
And, Best Beloved, you can be a child.
.
.
Josh Mitteldorf was educated to be an astrophysicist, but his life was derailed by the anti-war movement and New Age revolution of the 1970s. His two daughters were among the first adoptees from China in the 1980s. His book, Cracking the Aging Code was co-authored by Carl Sagan’s son, Dorion. He writes about science and politics at UnauthorizedScience.org. His own poetry and music, together with curated uplifting works of others, appear at Daily-Inspiration.org. His volume of brilliantly illustrated sonnets on the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching is available as an app for augury at I-Ching.guru.
Josh, this is a fascinating poem of “ifs” and “could be’s!” I found it thoroughly entrancing as I was mesmerized by each phrase and verse in a Kiplingesque manner infused with meaningful messages adeptly applied. You would make Kipling proud. You have engendered my admiration.
Your poem “After If” is a graceful and intelligent homage to Kipling’s famed poem, but it does more than echo – it reimagines. With wit, clarity, and a deep undercurrent of compassion, you take Kipling’s stoic ideal and soften it with humility, joy, and spiritual playfulness. This is wisdom without superiority, a manifesto for the soul that embraces paradox, mystery, and the art of unlearning. The final line “you can be a child” rings not with regression, but with radiant liberation. A masterful balance of reverence and originality.
I think you got it just right, Scharlie, and so I have nothing to add.