The Unexpected Event

The eye meanders, the soul searches,
The old methods no longer apply;
Gold, despite its reputation, decays and dissolves.
You are diligent in your efforts
To retain vitality--all for nothing.
Stevie Nicks trots upon a treadmill
While Fergie places products in her song;
The sexual zero winds among such vid-posts,
When--out of the blue--a meteor strikes!
You aren't quite sure of its composition:
Is it made of ice or solid iron?
Will it destroy you or light up the heavens
With auroral colors? No doubt it's neither extreme,
Neither calamitous rock nor sky-calligrapher
Spangling the air with celestial dyes.
It is merely diversion from the humming drum,
The thrumming tedium,
And when it fades and the rumble resumes,
You will look back on it with warm detachment.

Reviews

[Jenny]

The poem itself is wonderfully thought provoking. But this specific line, " You will look back on it with warm detachment," has me, not only sitting here thinking about the whole poem and rereading it. But it also keeps me thinking about how many things I think about with "warm detachment". What an odd, but serene description. An enjoyable read.

Thank you for sharing
J

[Wilyem Clark]

Thank you, Jenny, for commenting on the poem. I will attempt to explain my use of the ironic phrase "warm detachment." It is meant to contradict the perception that the event, whatever it is, is life-altering. Many people, at the moment something like this happens, jump to the conclusion that a significant change is in the air; I have had similar experiences in the past, and I know that this is almost always not true. In fact--in hindsight--I remember most of these aberrations with an almost chuckle-inducing indifference. Therefore, the statement is a sort of prediction on my part, based on what has happened before under similar circumstances.

[Jenny]

Hmmm and I thought of it as something that I'm completely finished with but also at peace with...but i also like the way that you explain it ;)

J