A Propensity for Intensity

A propensity for intensity
Envelopes many folks
Who don't often crack a smile
And rarely get the jokes,
Unless it's intense humor
Like Robin Williams represents;
That is driven and high energy
And only in sleep relents.

To be staid and always focused
On the serious business of living
Can reduce the life force available
For gentle loving and forgiving.
As celebrations of light approach
We might lighten up a tad
And eschew the impulse to reproach;
Relaxing need not be a fad.

The propensity for intensity
Sometimes has needed function,
But when it blocks humanity
It is a form of extreme unction.
The current tense makes the most sense
It's a present of which we are part,
It matters more than sometime hence
In thought, action and heart.

Note:
Extreme unction = The "Last Rites."