To Build a Head of Steam

First, some words:

To BUILD a Head of Steam

So much of our endeavor/takes forever to get going. It is/owing to the stubborn/that the hub earns torque &/spin. It’s within/the Human Spirit to be/near a tendered/Godhead. When an odd head/gets a notion, adds/Devotion stirred & served,/Well-deserved/rewards may follow. But the hollow/talk sans walking/makes the squawking/of the mob/cause a throbbing/of a vein that’s so/insanely sore to touch/–see, SO MUCH of our en-/deavor takes FOREVER to get going–

Build all that steam, and you’re still on the hamster-wheel of repetition. This is the conundrum of the unenlightened Buddhist, the yo-yo dieter, the nine-to-five wage grunt, and Bill Murray during almost all of GROUNDHOG DAY.

Jackson Browne wrote “The Pretender” following a tragedy in his life. “And when the morning sun/Comes shining in/We’ll get up and do it again/Amen.” Earlier, he wrote “Our Lady of the Well,” which seems to me to draw strength from a more innocent sensibility, though the verse I quote shows he has lost some of that innocence. Another verse shows dissatisfaction tempered with hope:

“Across my home has grown the shadow
Of a cruel and senseless hand
Though in some strong hearts
The love and truth remain
And it has taken me this distance
And a woman’s smile to learn
That my heart remains among them
And to them I must return”

And I love the double meaning of Well.

Here is the page, for which further explanation, though available upon request, would lead to further need for explanation: