no way...
No.
and even though you said
everything is negotiable--
with your microscope out on the table
and a lotus in a bowl,
everything cannot be just academic--
so open up a window and
go, man
Go.
You've got instruments for calculating
everything you know,
while I wrap my lonely skin around
cello and bow
in an empty room with curtains like sails.
What am I supposed to do with the least of you
in all the little details?
In your sleep, you hum and whistle
what philosophers opined,
and spoke of so intelligently,
then intelligently died.
A nickel isn't enough for my soul--
no, baby...
No;
so open up a window and
go, baby,
Go.
_____
for Flipside Flotsam 16 !
I don't mean to imply by my words here that dying is intelligent; quite the reverse.
ReplyDeletehttp://bible.cc/romans/1-22.htm
A little bible junk from your friendly neighborhood non-Christian lesbian crackpot poetess.
First a little aside on your very relevant bible ref--I can't believe how in rewriting the bible to 'modern' sensibilities, they have dumbed it down and removed so much of the impact of the poetic language--it's like listening to a soap commercial compared to reading Eliot or something (excuse the atheist's digression)
ReplyDeleteNow, the poem-- the debate between soul, mind and heart, or perhaps intellect and instinct, never ends and is always a tossup kind of no man's land, yet this poem seems to draw some lines--it seems to say life lived purely through reason is not enough, or perhaps just that pure reason leads to acknowledging the inevitability of death, so why not get to it and cut out the extraneous part if that's all you care about. So in a way, it's a mocking. But I think there's another level to this that argues for inclusion and balance of emotional need, emotional life, with the dry rationalities (and for me, argues most successfully.) Or maybe I'm just over-reading.
You know I'm not a quoter-back but can't resist these lines:
'...in an empty room with curtains like sails.
What am I supposed to do with the least of you
in all the little details?'
Hits home.
(Lawd, I am giving Flipside a run for her money here ;-) --sorry for the unbridled verbosity, all.)
I did not read a death wish here. Rather a slow descent into mediocrity, anathema for any questing soul or intellectual mind. Your refrain was like a rallying call to evacuate the premises. (I'm right behind ya!)
ReplyDeleteI have to ponder on this a bit.
ReplyDeleteI never associate academic with negotiate. The two seem incongruous.
I love the line~then intelligently died. How true.
There are things in this life beyond equations that turn philosophy on it's head.
I'm glad she knows this
That is one of my favorite songs ever.
ReplyDeleteI saw insight in "intelligently died." I think many a philosopher probably came to the conclusion that there is more meaning in death than life. There also could be an intelligent way to go about dying, as opposed to doing so in idiocy. That speaks to how one lives, if you ask me.
I love that photograph. And this:
"everything is negotiable--
with your microscope out on the table
and a lotus in a bowl"
Nickels, windows, curtains. Are these people smoking pot? "Go, baby, go." Are they perhaps talking to the smoke and the lofty ideas? :)
lol at your comment. :)
ReplyDelete"not everything can be academic"
ReplyDeleteExactly.
That's very light-hearted in a macabre sorta way. Loved it!
ReplyDeleteFireblossom--Now, if you came to my door on a Saturday afternoon, thumping some book, I'd let you in so we could chat. I wouldn't chase you off my front stoop like I did for a pair of Jehovah's Witnesses recently. (They keep the neighborhood off their parking lot--and it's an ideal place to rollerblade--and yet they want to traipse around on MY property? Not really fair...)
ReplyDeleteCoal has retired? No more House of Pain? Or perhaps no more need for a house of pain?
ReplyDeleteGreat job of this poem for Flipside Flotsam. I like this stanza. It illustrates ultimate conflict without using any fighting words.
"You've got instruments for calculating everything you know,
while I wrap my lonely skin around cello and bow"
—K
i don't accept Coal retiring! you do NOT have my permission!!!
ReplyDelete♥
Don't tread on, er COMODIFY ME!
ReplyDeleteHave a lovely week-
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
well ... well ... Kerry has a point ... and i am right behind her ... ;)
ReplyDeleteI love all the visuals this one brings...especially the curtains like sails part. LET HIM GO!!! :)
ReplyDeleteYour soul is priceless, baby. I love that song too!
ReplyDelete"while I wrap my lonely skin around
ReplyDeletecello and bow"
I ♥ this image, Shay!!! Well doen on the Flotsam!! I had fun with those ones, too!
I really, enjoy what you bring with the photograph and the "open up the window and go man go..." suggesting to let go of mind and these broken insides and play!
Nicely done!!
Or...after seeing your scriptural reference... I see more clearly your point. ;)
ReplyDelete