... (2020 - toss up)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmw_KUF_oaM&ab_channel=OanaCos

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There is such a freedom to being alone,

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Such an innate contradiction -

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As there in turn remains, in lieu of liberty,

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The self-manifestation of prison bars

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And the self-constructions of uncertainty.

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The world becomes, at once, your oyster;

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While you become, the next, its pearl.

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And the longer one lives like that

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The harder it seems to get, to picture

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A life lived in any other way.

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There is such a magnificence in it -

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A mountain climbed 

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Becomes a mountain conquered;

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A wall scaled, or a combat won,

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Becomes a declaration of independence,

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An annulment of self-limitation and

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A demonstration in self-emancipation.

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To beat someone, or something, 

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Is to outwit yourself 

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And nobody else -

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A chess board matched with the mirror

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And your own likeness to out-maneuver.

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There is an unrivaled simplicity, to that,

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In so far as a laconic concision -

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No verbosity, or complexity to your own reflection,

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Just predictability, against deliberation and 

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Mimetic reciprocity at the edges of doubled vision.

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Author's Note

5, 2, 3, 1, 5, 1, 3, 2, 5

Reviews

[Jess]

Your word choice and imagery is absolutely stunning. So many truths in one poem. Very impressive. Beautiful piece!

[Ookpik]

Thank you, that's very kind.

-Ook

[John the Baptist]

The image of the oyster and the pearl is brilliant, and I believe is the key to the poem. Isolation and solitude are two different things. To be reconciled with self is the key to liberation, while avoidance is an ego device. It appears the speaker has become aware of this, but is still arranging his thoughts around the concept.

[Ookpik]

I would much rather to have written it in prose - but lack the premise of a nice, succinct short to do so. I expect a re-write maybe, as I can spot the halfway point where I start to feel dissatisfied (scrapping half is still better than the whole).

Regardless, thank you John - I've been watching the Queen's Gambit to accentuate my sobriety, and mulling over these things seems to be the product.

Much appreciated, as always.

-Ook