On Burning Bridges the Right Way
When one chooses or is forced to leave a group with which one has been associated for an extended period of time one of the most oft heard pieces of advice is how important it is that one "not burn any bridges" on their way out the door. This advice is said to apply no matter the circumstances (good, bad, or neutral) of ones leaving of the particular group. However, it is most often spoken of in the case of unfriendly or forced departures. In those instances, the idea is that the relationships (the bridges) one has nurtured within the group over time, are more important than any particular action(s) of any person(s) in the group that resulted in said individual being forced out against his or her will. In the case of large organizations it may be that the person(s) responsible for the forced ejection of the individual are very far removed from that persons actual day to day "life" in the organization, and thus do not have much of a relationship (bridge) to begin with, and thus would likely be at least partially exempt from the standard advice on the importance of not burning bridges. More commonly however, forcing an individual to leave a group against their will almost always requires the direct 'negative' intervention of one or more other individuals in the group that the leaver does know and usually knows very well. I use the word negative in this case only because from the perspective of the individual being forced to leave (the leaver) the outcome is (at least perceived to be) a negative. If it were not they would not protest at being asked/forced to leave. In most cases, the person being forced out of the group probably has some personal relationships with the persons whose interventions (whatever they may be) have in some way led to their forced departure from the group, and these relationships may have been positive, negative, or neutral from the leavers point of view.
Comments (5)
Your poem powerfully a profound emotional journey. Loved your poem💖
Well-wrought!
Heart-rending! You've done really well with the nonet form. 'Stay' is a great choice of last word to sum up the whole poem.
Sad but lovely, and interesting poem.
So hard to be the one who is left behind. Beautiful verse.