Argumenting
Today, my brother Brecht and I review
the Fall of Man. Now here, the living God
does not explain things, while the serpent hands
an argument to Eve – but both speak true
about that apple. So, does the Lord’s mind
depend on argument? The answer’s no.
“Your mind is like a sink and when it’s full,
you’re smart,” says Brecht. An old man on the stoop
says “Do the right thing,” and Spike Lee does that –
a film in which I can’t tell wrong from right.
In Nine Mile in Jamaica, my guide tells me
“Stop argumenting.” And in fact, I do.
Stop argumenting, like the undying gods.
Like ripe fruit, they break open what you know.
The tongue speaks, the eye sees, the heart unclenches,
like grain in water or like dust in air.
There is no royal road that leads to wisdom.
I’m sorry, Brecht and I decided so.
Argumenting
https://www.proleartthreat.co.uk/forum/ ... 62#p217956
So this a revision for cohesion John? I feel there is an element of detachment to the poem.
So this a revision for cohesion John? I feel there is an element of detachment to the poem.
Hi Phil,
Thanks for finding that! Yes, so a little over a year ago, I went through this MS. on PAT's boards. I hope that's OK. Some poems have changed more than others - I just skipped two poems, "Sleepover" and "Origami," that haven't changed, since I don't feel anything more needs to be said about them. But I thought this poem had been edited, as you see. And I think to the poem's benefit - the first two stanzas in tet didn't add anything useful and instead decentered the piece, and then, there are a few tweaks in the remaining pent.
Detached is 100% right! The joke is, the poem is a prime example of the very argumenting it claims to review. And argumenting is bad, per my Jamaican guide.
Cheers,
John
Thanks for finding that! Yes, so a little over a year ago, I went through this MS. on PAT's boards. I hope that's OK. Some poems have changed more than others - I just skipped two poems, "Sleepover" and "Origami," that haven't changed, since I don't feel anything more needs to be said about them. But I thought this poem had been edited, as you see. And I think to the poem's benefit - the first two stanzas in tet didn't add anything useful and instead decentered the piece, and then, there are a few tweaks in the remaining pent.
Detached is 100% right! The joke is, the poem is a prime example of the very argumenting it claims to review. And argumenting is bad, per my Jamaican guide.
Cheers,
John
Wonderful music which perfectly suits that tremendous movie. Thanks for thinking of it!
This poem is the start of my Bible sequence - Adam, Eve, apple. It was called "Torah Portion" for a while. The narrator is incredibly arrogant, which I hope is less true of me.
The next poem in the MS. is "Cain's Song," a tet sonnet which people may remember. The Book of Ruth is quite a bit further along in the OT - Joshua, Judges, Ruth - and is very short. So I made it shorter. I only have four OT poems: the last is "The Prophets," which I plan to post in a bit.
Cheers,
John
This poem is the start of my Bible sequence - Adam, Eve, apple. It was called "Torah Portion" for a while. The narrator is incredibly arrogant, which I hope is less true of me.
The next poem in the MS. is "Cain's Song," a tet sonnet which people may remember. The Book of Ruth is quite a bit further along in the OT - Joshua, Judges, Ruth - and is very short. So I made it shorter. I only have four OT poems: the last is "The Prophets," which I plan to post in a bit.
Cheers,
John