To Cast

The verb to cast means pointedly to throw,

in youth one casts as one casts nets, quite wide.

Light cast, blocked, will always cause a shadow,

antithesis, a different view or side.

And actions have their opposites, divide

the world by force, too commonplace to show,

though as we trip we curse our hurried stride.

The verb to cast means pointedly to throw,

to hurl our choice and seal our fate, yet know

we rarely set, cannot ourselves be cast, though cast aside,

we’re ever changing, molten, our thoughts flow.

In youth one casts as one casts nets, quite wide,

and catch ideas which dazzle and then slide

back into streams of nonsense where they grow

to be swallowed by other children, swimming against the tide.

Light cast, blocked, will always cause a shadow

and so 

we needs must flatten obstacles, deride

opponents, trample where they sow

antithesis, a different view or side,

because we can’t admit ideas elide.

So sad attempts at clarity make narrow,

and focus means we barely see and yet decide

the fate of others with our vote, our arrow:

the verb to cast means pointedly to throw.