The Flea Trainer

The Flea Trainer

I can see fleas on tiny seesaws,
sitting tiny swings that sway,
contented and bored to just pass the time.
How came they conditioned this way ?

First put the fleas within a jar
then place the lid on top.
The fleas will jump and jump and jump
hitting glass and lid with knocks
and after a while the muscles condition
the jump to avoid the pain
of colliding with lid and glass so hard,
over and over again.
You can remove the lid. Let out the fleas,
even put them on swings that sway.
They’ll jump, but within the limits imposed
on muscles conditioned this way.

We start out fresh to climb the mountain,
to leave our marks on Life,
to jump the stumbling stones of living
and clear the hurdles of strife
but we bang our heads. We skin our knees.
We fracture our hopes and means.
So when we jump, it’s not so high.
Conditioning has stolen our Dreams!

From the corner of my eye, I spied the jar.
Without lid, there’s a chance to get out.
Yet the fleas within just could not do it,
with freedom as close as a shout.
But my eyes perceived a single flea,
jumping high and above the rest,
looking for the opening at the top of the jar
where freedom is the dream and the quest.

Each time he jumped, it seemed much higher,
defying his conditioning to win.
I found myself cheering on this flea
now showing me the Hero within.
With eyes face up for one giant leap
to clear the barrier, the bar,
it lunged past fleas and the opening at the top.
This flea-trainer jumped “Out” of the jar.
I roared. The fleas in the jar were shocked!
I clapped. Disbelief ran fast.
But there was no denying this Will of one flea,
now looking from the other side of the glass.

I learned from the “insignificant”
where significant wisdom is free
that it’s not the size of the flea in the fight,
it’s the size of the fight in the flea.
Being beaten will no longer defeat me,
tho’ I’m hammered on Life’s anvil and scarred.
No longer will circumstances crush my Dreams.
I’m a Flea ‘trained to jump’, from the jar.

Namyh