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Poets and Poetry

Sometimes I sit looking out the window -

Not seeing.

A book on my lap – not reading.

The radio soft with song – not listening.

Or lying upon my pillow - not sleeping.

Just thinking.

Giving my brain free rein

To pursue its peculiar passages.

And this scope often spins into 'Poetry'

That esoteric web of human connection

Through millennia.

 

What is it exactly? Poetry?

Who writes it? And why?

Who is so driven to explore and express

The extremes of sensibility and existence

As only 'I' know it.

Poetry demands an arrogance of conviction

That 'I rule the journey of my own ideas!'

Yet understanding wholly that

'My thoughts are no deeper, or braver,

Or more true

Than anyone else's.'

A bizarre mix of defiance and defence

Committed to print

Boldly cast into the cold world.

Not necessarily with laughable swagger.

Often, more with a certain longing

That 'someone else - one person else -

Might see as I see, think as I think

Understand what I'm trying to understand.'

 

And who reads poetry besides other 'poets'?

Not many, I warrant.

But it hardly matters as the circle spreads

Like gathering fish in a massive net

Of common interests

Worldwide.

 

Ha! These are fine thoughts indeed!

Very boldly rendered

The keys pulsing through my fingers:

Words! Words! Words! The World of Words!

And – HA! again. I often wonder

If we poets do not drone the dirge of the damned

And frolic with the frog-footed 

Just for the hell of it - the sheer 'hell of it'!

We are a convoluted lot

Much on the 'precious' side -

But Ha! Ha! Ha! I really value your company.

◄ My Mummy Can Do Anything

Tree ►

Comments

<Deleted User> (13762)

Thu 15th Mar 2018 08:09

Love! Love! Love! The conversational style as if to oneself but also hoping someone else is listening works very well. We are indeed 'on the precious side' and it doesn't hurt for us to step back and laugh at ourselves once in a while. The underlying theme for me is inclusiveness and togetherness that poetry can bring, as summed up so neatly in these lines:

'That 'someone else - one person else -
Might see as I see, think as I think
Understand what I'm trying to understand.'

Thanks for posting Cynthia.
Colin.

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suki spangles

Wed 14th Mar 2018 23:14

Hi Cynthia,

The first verse on its own is a very fine poem. Lovely.

Thanks for sharing.

Suki

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Stu Buck

Wed 14th Mar 2018 15:04

this is so interesting cynthia. i love the way you describe the blossoming of a poem in the brain and as laura said, its all shot through with witty little asides. love it, made me think which is all i can ask for

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Laura Taylor

Wed 14th Mar 2018 14:04

Ah, thanks to performance poetry though Cynth, plenty of people read poetry these days, and there's more all the time.

Loved this one of yours - plenty honest, funny, some clever little barbs in there ?

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