God is Not a Puppeteer

God is Not a Puppeteer

There was a time 

When books were books 

Papers, ideals and ink

But in our days

A few ones could say

Every one book is one little boat

With paddles set

And a darkness cloak

For the purpose of your escape

Not quite majestic

Yet not so graceless

Your efforts and your hopes

To be one day

So far one day

From greeting living within

The fantasy of dying

From greeting olive trees 

That stand pleasantly still

And allow machines

To feed on the matter of their wishes

With no grain of sound

Or evil superstitions 

How many times have you been told

To not come near a human mind

Other than your own?

Or else you'll know not how

To eloquently write

Or paint a wonder

For your sight

But with no other mind but yours,

You'll soon engage 

In silly fights

And bickers with uneven walls

A philosopher is no physician,

And no waiting goes in vain

You fear your falls as if they were

Manifestations in your brain,

You think of thinking as a joke

Or a string of a vivid dream,

From which your boat will further steer

But you once said, with faith that gleams

All is what it really seems

And God is not a Puppeteer.

28.01.2015

Author's Note

Spinoza. Philosophy. Anxiety. Solitude. And the wish to recover from reality through illusions. Thank you for reading.

Reviews

[GingerPocky]

My favorite line is "a philosopher is no physician". Nicely done

[Ryter]

Not bad man. Keep up the good work. :D

[Rick Puetter]

Dear YouoweYoupay,

Interesting. Spinoza. Also very interesting. Such a pivotal philosopher with his radical (for the time) ideas of God and Determinism. I think he'd be a physicist if born today, with this interest in optics, microscopes, and telescopes. He'd be driven to understand Nature (God). A brilliant mind that couldn't he harnessed and held by the limited views of religious society of the time.

And I find your statement in the Author's Note very interesting as well: the wish to recover from reality through illusions'. The recognition of suffering from life's facts, but understanding that these attempts to escape are illusion only. And we find this in the poem, too. The recognition that each book is a "little boat" that gives escape.

I am also drawn to the lines "You think of thinking as a joke". Yes, this is a danger (thinking), that so many fear even today. Spinoza faced this fear in his daily life. One must stand strong against this fear.

And the closing line: And God is not a puppeteer", is very interesting. How to interpret this? Difficult in Spinozian terms as he did not believe in free will. His God was in some sense a puppeteer, but then again not a puppeteer since the puppeteer has his own free will, and Spinoza believed in a non-personal God, much more like Nature or the laws of physics. Oh, and I just noticed that "not" is crossed out in the title. Now that is Spinozian for sure.

And the second to last line: "All is what it really seems", also makes me think of Poe's poem "A Dream Within a Dream". Very a propos given the subject matter.

I can't begin to claim that I fully understand what you are trying to say with this piece, but I can acknowledge that this is a real thought provoker. Rarely have I seen as intricate a piece on WritersCafe or elsewhere. You raise questions and leave things open-ended. Very much like life.

I enjoyed this very much. Kudos! High marks. A rare 98 rating. I've never given higher.

Best regards,

Rick

[Eli Hughes]

Wow. This just blew my mind entirely. Beautifully written.

[TL Boehm]

Every one book is one little boat
With paddles set

that line resonates with me...

[Nick Erickson]

I love "every one book is one little boat" - the picture it paints is the truth. Each book, each story, every one stands alone, must be paddled along, nursed, and set free to find a current of its own.

[Bright Ocean Star]

Rain, this is wonderful. I love the sweet rhythm that pulled you through this one. I love the boat in the lake. Great symbolism and eloquent construction. Excellent. I'm putting this one in my favorites...:)

[SmittyJas]

Many thoughtful of a read putting ones mind at ease to slip away and only one breath to take that makes the world go around and wonder all the thoughtful thoughts that have ever been found.

[StarNinja]

Philosophy? The Mind? This is poetry on another level! I can't even... thinking hurts. I love reading and books and reading books and so I have a soft spot for the promotion of reading. Even those tacky posters with celebrities on them that only say, "READ". A lot is lost when words leave the page and get trapped in E-form, but those are the times we live in I suppose. Congrats on another killer poem, Rain. Five Stars!

[Arnt Johnsen]

Love it !
Thoughtful indeed.