The view

For Devon's Image contest

There is your view

There is my view

     And

There is a collective view

Perceptions are exhaled in open air

They also grow in musty closed rooms.

Who could ever stop a will-an opinion to be nurtured by one's spirit

An irreversible action to be formed from them. 

I look below at time roughened streets

At cluttered young rebels 

Victims of unemployment

People limiting their vision to the now 

Tangibility being believing.

The scraggly old man who owns the cafe in our building

disinterestedly looking at the chaos this morning

At his age perhaps all chaos has been analysed and passed

These disturbed times too shall pass

He impatiently waits for his cigar to finish 

Muttering few syllables of disgust 

Stamps off the last few sparks of it  

Returns to his sanctuary of warm shakes

 of

 strawberries  chocolates 

 ham  cheese  honeyed breads

I sigh at the humdrum

At the litter on the street

At the monotony of people

 going and coming 

coming and going

For many that street is the end all the be all

They never would leave it 

Neither would they love it

There are thinking patterns that never grow

Mindsets that stagnate like mildews on tree barks.

 Slowly..very slowly

 I raise my eyes

 Towards the point

 Where the last twig of the tree meets the sky 

It expands from the point into something more 

Something stable and settled

I let my mind be suspended therein

All restless fears coming unstuck there

Azure blue sky engulfing me

This is the view I chose to accept 

Limitlessness of the sky is what I want to see 

For endless are our possibilities.

I wish the old man below had craned his neck a bit to share my view.

Reviews

[Jibey]

Reminded me a little of the style of T S Eliot's 'Four Quartets'... I liked the sense of decrepitude and desolation... of blinkered downward vision, 'minds that stagnate like mildews'... and the sense of your own capacity to lift your eyes upwards and embrace life's deeper and fuller possibilities... Good writing... Neat and telling last line, as well..

[Sweet_pale_cacophony]

Hi,
I can't tell how thankful I am to your reviewing this poem. It gave me a reason to read it again myself. Sometimes, when you read your own poem after a while, it's hard to believe that those words came out of you. Thanks for me reminding me so..

[Ice QueenJen]

wow this was a totally different perspective than your other one. And again you bring us into the world, letting us see what she sees. Great poem too!

[Devons]

"They would never leave it
Neither would they love it"

I think these lines encompass all concerning the day to day humdrum and passive existence perceived of the passing crowds; objectively, how meaningless and futile and pathetic it all seems in the broader scheme of things. This poem shows perception in terms of the individual versus the mass - how the individual sees more future and inspiration in the world without man. The blue sky is clear of detritus and the view is clean and unimpaired...

Philosophically gentle, thoughtful writing, with a human charm.

[Ed Hart]

event: tragic...presentation: outstanding

[Coyote Poetry]

A very strong story. You took me with you with your words in the poem. I like the description and the story in the words.
"I look below at time roughened streets
At cluttered young rebels
Victims of unemployment
People limiting their vision to the now and the there on that very street
Tangibility being key of living"
If we open our eyes. Easy to see the suffering. I like the ending to the outstanding poetry.
Coyote