This is just to say...

One of my favorite poems, by William Carlos Williams:

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

I remember writing about this poem in my twelfth grade English class, writing about the choice between right and wrong -- cost-benefit analyzing making the wrong choice and choosing it, then deciding afterward that it was worth it... I've heard this poem paralleled to the story of the Garden of Eden, when Eve picks the fruit from the forbidden tree, then offers it to Adam when she knows it is wrong, because she decided it was worth it.

I am a staunch believer in right and wrong... I admit that I often apply a little "cost-benefit analysis" to my own life, a more sophisticated version of (or sophisticated-sounding version of) a pros and cons list. It's easy to put things on both the "pro" and the "con" sides of any list, but deep down, I think big decisions aren't meant to be so frivolous, even if we pretend they are. I talked to a friend today who was in the middle of a big decision, and the "physical part of my heart," as another friend likes to say, hurt for her... we actually began talking about pros and cons, and eventually the conversation turned a little more serious to discuss actual consequences. Amazing how easy it is to ignore those rewards consequences that are the most blatant in the decisions we make which matter the most.

This [post] is just to say that, in my opinion, Williams' poem, while it's haunting image doesn't elude any of us, it also doesn't end where his words do. I think good will always overcome evil, no matter how sweetly cold that evil tastes.