ABSOLUTE ZERO

I posted this a long time ago, but it seems appropriate for today...

A Texas wind kicked the September Equinox into place

today and left it lying in the Amarillo mud. The smell

of the herd next door wafted green through the windows,

whispering of younger days and wider possibilities.

There was a time…

but it didn’t last...

when the horizon curved for three hundred and sixty degrees,

but even one day, one month, one second took it’s own slice

of that pie, not caring to savor the caramel and salt as the maw

widened for more of what was left; no thought for finity,

for a plate licked clean, the boiling pot of intellection wasted,

the spice of La Belle Dame nothing more than a passing

bit of ennui…

A vision of falling water in a heavy forest, the very air

thick and sweet as green can be, but not really there, if

you want to believe those quantum things the physicists

and Buddhists keep going on about. All of which makes me

wonder if, when it’s done, the dishes washed and put away,

God Himself didn’t just imagine the whole thing.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

isn't it a shame...some times intellection is just flat, and you can see nothing for miles....
like those who thought the world was flat before exploration proved otherwise.
So many young folks today aren't interested in that exploration...
a new text is coming in---sit still for the screen.
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,
We're in trouble when reality itself is elusive... all our senses firing neurons to fool us into believing there is something outside our brainbox...
Vol

[Mauricio Montoya]

the title is zero but not the write it tells a story one I'm at a loss of words but I enjoyed reading your work.
thank you for sharing.

[Dave Brown]

Your response to Relic, that poetry should mean something leaves me feeling inadequate (???) because I rarely write anything meaningful, but then you relieve my concern by telling Julie that sound and rhyme should come first which is the slot that I fit the best.
Reality is, I enjoy writing (poetry???) mostly for the fun and rhyme of it all which, based on the number of response I get, is just marginally acceptable.
However, it is what it is.
Also, I feel that what is written should be understandable and I find the work of quite a few just confusing
Oh yes, your poem
I'm afraid my simple mind does not know what it is meaning to say which is something I find happening too often so, does that mean that to be a bone-a-fide poet a person should also be able to understand all that is written
blah blah.....

[Vol]

Dave,
If you are writing, you are examining your own life and the world around you, just as Socrates enjoined you to do.
The problem I see most often is so many sacrifice their own voice to play traditional literary games, almost all of which are completely outdated. They want to sound "poetic," so they drop grammar because e e cummings did, or bounce their words because they never got beyond Dr. Seuss, they use "Thee and thou," and talk about how they feel, as though anyone cares, when they should be talking about the vicissitudes of life everyone experiences. The very worst of them have not gotten beyond the stupidity of post-modernism.
No one cares about those conventions anymore... we don't have time for them! The modern attention span is shorter than an Ernest Hemingway sentence. If you want good examples of what I'm saying, read Charles Bukowski, or
Raymond Carver, Carol Ann Duffy; When they have something to say, they just say it.
Oh, and it is "sound and rhythm," not rhyme... which also has a place, the captain of that ship is Robert Frost, he rhymed without hitting you over the head with it...
Jeepers... I do blah, blah blah, don't I?
Vol

[Dave Brown]

I'll try reading them
I am not really a reader, I just enjoy fooling around with 'rhythm?! but I'll give it a shot
Even at my age I might still be able to absorb something
Thanks

[Vol]

Man... I'm a seventy-four-year-old sponge...

[Dave Brown]

I have 8 yrs on you and my sponge is getting fairly worn out
I wouldn't suggest getting any older

[Relic]

I feel inadaquate as a poet after reading poems like this, Vol. Excellent work with a great ending.

[Vol]

Relic,
If you are writing poems, you're a poet. The most important problem most poets have is finding their own voice. Way too many want to sound "poetic," or copy e.e. cummings, or play tricks with words. Poetry should say something new, something important, even something funny, whatever that is, just say it, and keep saying it until it sounds right... read it out loud to yourself... it's pretty easy. I normally begin with an image, and then have to find what it means so I can follow the path to get there.

[Relic]

Great advice, thanks. :)👍

[Vol]

Oh yeah... MANY on here make me feel inadequate...

[Julie McCarthy (juliesp..]

Ah a very deep spiritual thought provoking piece here I loved it even though I haven’t quite got it yet. I will need to read reread a few times but that’s ok anything that comes too easy to my mind is not brilliant as is yours. Brilliant !

[Vol]

Julie,
Thank you for reading and commenting. I recently read an article that said, poetry is easy, and don't overthink... that when we read, the sound and rhythm of the words should come first, like hearing a beautiful, melodious song and only later paying attention to the lyrics... Once the words are boiling in the pot, we can enjoy the images, and the meaning works itself out on its own. When I was teaching Modern Lit, I used to have my students read a poem like D. H. Lawrence's "AWARE" for the sound and beauty of the words, and ask them what they thought it meant, then later I would let them know that he had TB and knew he would die young, And ask the same question... all as an illustration of how what we get today is because of who we are today. Tomorrow, we will not be the same, and what comes to us from any genre of art will never be the same thing twice...
Gee!, I wish those of us who are here had a pub where we could sit across tables, get drunk, and talk...
Vol

[Julie McCarthy (juliespenhere)]

Yes that would be cool
Thanks