Why Masochism?

Inspired by a thesis I just read.

 

Why does Pretty fancy Pain?

Perhaps Dead is numb and longs for a taste.

Perhaps Plenty is bored, and longs for the waste.

Perhaps Truth is cold, and remembers warmer dreams.

 

Seems rich corpses burn with lust for golden screams

and beg the beggar for a taste of his hurt;

majestic tragedy of human ache.

Remember when Life lived?

 

Could Holy remember Filthy fondly?

Are cold clean hands lonely for hot thighs?

Perhaps noble instruments can’t be tuned with lies.

Seems shiny dogs dressed in regality and piety still pant.

 

Do pedicure feet still long to dance?

Do safe inland homes want ocean edges.

As childlike eyes crest their protective hedges,

there must be such familiar sweetness in poor old ugly.

 

Is life silver circlets running from nothing to nothing

with precious curves seeming so mundane?

Mystery of emptiness is always in view.

Does fullness want for the hole?

 

Why does Pretty fancy Pain?

Why does strange Crazy entice Sane?

Why does dry warmth want for cold rain?

Perhaps a clean white garment misses it’s stains.

Reviews

[Kevin Vorshak]

Welcome back, Cap! I have to say this is a pretty deep piece. One of those without an answer. You see all the time the smart, pretty and intelligent woman who hangs with abusive losers. My daughter has friends who are beautiful, yet cut themselves. Interesting how seemingly normal people want peace and seek pain. Nice alliteration with 'filthy fondly.' I do, though, stumble over the line 'Do clean hands are lonely for hot thighs.' No matter how I look at it or read it, it interrupts my flow. Other than that, really a great work.

[Kristee]

Oh my god, I LOVE IT! I haven't been on this site in quite awhile (been busy with college stuff) and your poem is the first thing I read in my requests. I'm SO GLAD I did! The phrase "opposites attract" comes to mind because this poem was FULL of opposites and it DEFINITELY attracted me. I was hooked and found myself smiling and nodding my head in agreement throughout the entire piece.

"Do pedicure feet still long to dance?"--I loved that line. I'm a dancer myself and I know that most dancers don't have the best looking feet (haha).

I also loved the line: "Are cold clean hands lonely for hot thighs?" SUCH a good line! I really felt that one.

You're an amazing writer and you definitely know how to paint a picture in a reader's head! Great job!

[Lynx]

I feel like you should've made this shorter, only kept the lines that gives the most meaning into this poem, because at the moment it's so long that the meaning's lost between the lines. We know every single line mean almost the same thing, and well yeah prolonging it doesn't seem like it really helped much with this.

Anyway yeah. xD

[Carey Lenehan]

Profound perspective. Like it. The human dilemma is that the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side. Society encourages us to be extreme and do what makes us happy but then makes us feel ashamed and guilty about ourselves. Our inner sense of justice knows the world is wrong and that happiness cannot be achieved the way it is. Pretty hates itself and pain is its punishment. Life is utterly circular and patterns repeat. We are so screwed!
Great write. You see right through the fog. XXC

[Blackbirdsong]

There is nothing not to love about this poem. The structure, the way it flows down the page, your magnificent use of subtle rhyme and alliteration...barely noticeable until I reread it and just smiled at your skill. Of course this poem isn't the top ten here...then again for the most part crap is what rises to the surface on this site. So just know that is deserving of more. You are a wonderful writer captain. Thank you so much for asking me to read this and please forgive me for taking so long to get back to you.

[thoughtshower]

i really like this piece. It hosts some interesting questions within an understandable theme. Great work

[East of Eden]

It's very interesting. we feel the need to explore both extreme ends of the spectrum. it's an outcrying of ideas! it's alive with curiosity. good work.

[Jade]

I love this last bit:

Why does Pretty fancy Pain?
Why does strange Crazy entice Sane?
Why does dry warmth want for cold rain?
Perhaps a clean white garment misses it's stains.


Terrific. It flows beautifully. I'd love to see more consistency with the rhyming. There is a flow, then it is lost when the next bit doesn't rhyme. The yin and yang of the piece is what I truly love.

Great job.

[Conversations Kill]

.. and with each line I picture a perfect example, as to why this piece amplifies the ironies that we live. Some conscious and some not so much. The first and last stanzas are my favorite.

We are all guilty of it. Men who have great wives , may cheat. Children with perfect parents may go bomb a school, athletes making twice as much as someone who saves your life after working their life for that license.

-"It's a wicked world we live in".
Thanks again for another great piece.

[sheerpoetry]

the answer is yes.