After Vevey

I’d read Voltaire in a different light.

Candide’s single-minded pleasure less and

less of a Baedeker’s guide to how a lad coped

through the fool’s folly of a night’s sweat

about the nether regions. The never-ending

quest to have a Jenny pin his tail back on,

so much absurdity. The blind stupidity,

over and over, again, and again, too often

too much of an admission to the simple-minded

purposeless of a chickless cockerel.

 

I’d returned a wiser man. Passion,

no matter how energetic, was tidal.

The horizon, so far and linear, eventually

brought you to the edge of the world.

Whether you sailed on or turned back,

always dependent on who you’d left behind. 

 

Ken e Bujold

Reviews

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

may i ask what prompted you to write this poem? i'm curious because there are a lot of hints at a deeper, maybe personal references that i can't quite fgure out.
while esoteric, a lot meaning is conveyd in its rhythm. i loved how the last stanza slows down with more punctuation. and the lines "I’d returned a wiser man. Passion, / no matter how energetic, was tidal..." is just *chef's kiss*.
by the way, Candide is one of my favourite books. i might give it a reread sometime soon.

[Ken e Bujold]

My prompt? Bad hips. Age.
in all seriousness, this is one of a suite of poems I have been working on. I suppose the general theme, is time. How it plays on the mind. The recklessness of youth, ambitions, eventually turn to retrospection. When you reach my age certain windows open to questions of why you slammed other doors shut.

I have always been somewhat of a confessional poet. My works through the years have been the attempt to examine my world.

Vevey is personal. At its simplest level, nothing more than an acknowledgement of a failed relationship. With time, the ache and bitterness of lost loves fades, but is never completely forgotten. Hopefully you learn lessons along the way.

That is the crux of this poem's opening salvo. Choice of Voltaire, Candide, centers the poem. The book was a favorite of the young me. Still remains one of the great satires of all time in my mind. But, it also serves as a warning. Throwing your entire life at one thing: career, ambition, woman ... has very real consequences. Over time, I learned this.

The last verse, as you have insightfully noted, slows down. Again, intentional. Trying to instill hindsight to the poem. And a recognition of wisdom gained. The last two lines are hopefully a successful instilling of melancholy with wisdom. The feeling of a very simple truth: how or why one sails through life is dependent on who or what you wish to have, or keep. Sometimes you sail over the edge and leave behind what you have for something else. Other times you turn back.
With Vevey, and its sister poems, I sailed over the edge. No regrets. Life has, is good. But there are days, nights when I ask myself, what if I hadn't. Or if I had found a way to include her in the voyage?

Glad you enjoyed the poem

Ken e

Posted 4 Minutes Ago

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

thanks Ken. I read your comment and then re-read the poem. the second time around, i still thought how great the poem works on surface-level, but i felt more of the angst and regret behind the words. finding out who Vevey was - or who she was to you - added a thick layer of pathos while reading.
anyway, i'll be sure to check out more of your work.

and i hope your hips are okay.

[Ken e Bujold]

Vevey, is a place. Small town on Lac Leman, or Lake Geneva as some know it, in Switzerland. Among other things, known for being where Charlie Chaplin exiled himself for the last 30 yrs of his life.
Poem I posted yesterday, Prometheus Unbound is sister to this poem

[Ern M. Yoshimoto]

Oh, i didn't know that. well it sounds lovely and i'm guessing it's a special place for you. i'll be sure to read the sister work.