You Ask God For Meaning

Written after the Minneapolis highway bridge collapse

 

You Ask God For Meaning

 

You ask God for meaning

though meaning’s illusion;

the rhymes and the reasons

serve crème-filled delusions.

 

A river flows darkly

past human decay.

A bridge spans its wide banks;

twin cities delay

 

the cost of inspection,

too dear to commit,

no need for redundance

no hurry to fix.

 

So Humpty and Dumpty

fall ‘ere Rush Hour Three,

with six declared fatal,

twenty plus lost at sea.

 

The mayor is grieving,

somberly states the toll;

the numbers keep rising,

and the same with his poll.

 

You ask God for meaning

though meaning’s illusion;

the rhymes and the reasons

serve crème-filled delusions.

 

Young artist is thriving

at the crest of each trend.

Education and talent

thrill her fam’ly and friends:

 

moved into a brownstone,

bought a shiny red coupe,

gave teachers their kudos

but slipped into the soup.

 

A wily weak vessel

awaiting cruel chance

blows out her last party
cuts in her life dance.

 

The shock in their faces,

the sharp blow to their hearts,

her fam’ly and friends

lost at sea as they start

 

to ask God for meaning

though meaning’s illusion;

the rhymes and the reasons

serve crème-filled delusions.

 

Black hearts sometimes weather

the storms of the righteous

while an innocent child

is snatched from beside us.

 

Just reasons and fairness

Are merely old crumbs.

What we do with our fortune

good or ill we become.

 

You ask God for meaning

though meaning’s illusion;

the rhymes and the reasons

serve crème-filled delusions.

 

 

 

Reviews

[Paul Grimsley]

i often talk when i review your poetry of how the surface stillness usually intimates something far more frenetic going on beneath the surface -- this to me seems to flip the whole dynamic on its head and the energy which is present in every line hides a sombre heart -- this poem moves around a still centre.

moved into a brownstone,
bought a shiny red coupe,
gave teachers their kudos
but slipped into the soup.

this stanza for the sonic qualities it leaps and slips through stood out for me, in fact i think the whole poem dances, but one sense while the narrator dances his thoughts are elsewhere -- pondering lofty thoughts. in some way in this poem you have, like t s eliot, found a wasteland that is a canvas for your thoughts

[Shannon K.]

I enjoy how you have set this poem up. With the repeating stanza, and the different situations about things that happen in everyday life that have people asking God for answers was a really brilliant set up; and a brilliant idea for a poem. I think that it would be interesting, if, since you wrote a bunch of negative things that happen, you wrote a sequel containing positive things about Gods answers. IT would be interesting to see a writer sort of oxy moron their own poem.
I think that you did a great job on this poem from start to finish!
S.k.

[Linda Crawford Ortiz]

Agreeing with Paul, this totally dances...to the rhythm of a beautiful color scheme...a masterpiece not quite finished, allowing our input. The meter is phenomenally easy to catch and carries the reader through to the last line with nary a chance to lose the interpretation. It is very musical in its presentation and its images...'creme-filled delusions', 'the crest of each trend' just to mention a few...brings it home. The contemporary references: 'Rush Hour Three' combines with the traditional (Humpty and Dumpty) and makes it apropos to each reader. "Just reasons and fairness/Are merely old crumbs./What we do with our fortune/good or ill we become." A grand warning, or reminder, of what is to be--que sera, sera! Tho I've been gone awhile, its so good to get back to your sense of artistry. Thank you for such a welcome.

[[untitled]]

you do well in the section that carries over thoughts from one stanza into the next...not a fan of the olde english though

[Gary H]

I looked at your small picture first and saw the disaster and the guy scratching his head. This to me gave the poem it's opening 'you ask God for meaning'. Reading through though I get the impression that God is replying and saying 'Hey guys, look at yourselves and the mess you are in. Don't go blaming me'.

Really meaningful work David.

[Phantom Heart]

This made me think about all the devestations around the world and the false hopes that people entwine in the minds. I think that disaters are unfortunate for humanity but it is something we have to accept and understand. I thought this poem was deep and I thank you for sharing it. I know that it had to take some time to write.

[J. Hampton]

I applaud your spirit for taking the time to write on this somber event.

Seems as though perhaps you tried too hard to rhyme in some areas.
you have some nicely creative verses ...but the somber nature of the piece might be better served without the rhyme. makes it almost cutesy in spots.

We are always caught off guard in tragedy.... God loves us in life ....and death
Life is life....and death is ( always )called unfair ...yet it is inevitable...and necessary ...it comes like a theif in the night...Best to be ready

You are a thoughtful man for writing this ... and I no doubt I will read other works of yours ..I believe we are myspace friends or something

blesssssssss

[Ebby]

A lyrical write shot through with worthwhile thought pivots.
You cover so many points eloquently, yet in a light rhythm, making deathly seriousness appear more lighthearted in the most ironic manner.
Thankyou for this interesting piece.

[Randall Richard]

pains me to say this but this was a miss for me, the rythm and structure was a bit sing-songy for the subject matter. the title alone was enough to scare me away from reading it. sorry but it didn't work for me.

[Barry S. Maltese]

The truth rings clear, and is a tough pill to swallow. Your words flow well and encapsulate well the tragic horrors of that bridge collapse. I feel deeply the horrors that the family has gone through and I can see that you do, too. but why should Gos answer now. The game is not over. And we will all learn it when our time is up.
Great job, again!

[Thomas Dylan]

You captured the cynical ways in which people seek to gain from tragedies like this.
This reminds be a bit of a poem by William McGonagle ? about the Tay Bridge disaster in Scotland in the 19th century. It's full of rhyming couplets, and has been described as the worst poem ever published. Although now, that view is undergoing revision and the poem is acclaimed by many.
I like rhymes and assonance and dissonance, it shows that the writer has gone to a lot of trouble to write something good.
I thought this was an inspired poem.