State of the Union
(I’ve posted this for Three Word Wednesday – this week’s words are hassle, inject, and wealth.)
In every limb there lives confusion
Replete with staring, empty eyes
Searing hot in minds that feed on callous, offhand lies
Every chiseled heart a sandstone
Every tongue is scissor-sharp
Hey, does it hurt to grow up but not wise?
Hey, does it hurt to grow up but not wise?
“Soothe us with your clammy kindness or
Inject us with your fearsome knowledge
We can see what you are, don’t you know
Take our thoughts and minds and wealth
And then claim you care about our health
We can see what you are, don’t you know
Don’t you see you cannot fool us
Don’t you see you cannot hassle us
We will live through this, too.”
Conspiracy a revelation
And fear a grand sensation
Hey, does it hurt to grow up but not wise?
Hey, does it hurt to grow up but not wise?
Tags: poetry, Three Word Wednesday
Filed under: Three Word Wednesday, poetry
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They always blame others for the things we have to pay to correct – we always survive it.
1 Stan Ski said this (June 30, 2010 at 8:28 pm)
Hi Thomma, am back after two weeks break I guess…:-)
I like your poem here, yes, maybe it hurts to grow up not wise..for me…:-)
2 Amity said this (June 30, 2010 at 9:47 pm)
Oh, dear. Yes, it’s true, isn’t it? We believe what we want to believe and there are those who are quick to take advantage.
3 Ann (bunnygirl) said this (June 30, 2010 at 10:29 pm)
Such a deep thought !!! made me stop and ponder for a while..
4 nimue said this (July 1, 2010 at 12:57 am)
Very nice. I’ve known a few people who’ve grown up, but not wise
5 Carlos said this (July 1, 2010 at 4:39 am)
Deep question Thomma.
If your intention in this poetry was to leave the reader thinking, then you indeed succeeded in my case.
Good one, enjoyed it!
6 Jay Thurston said this (July 1, 2010 at 8:41 am)
Thanks, all! Yes, my intent with this one was to leave people thinking. A kind of ink blot poem. I know where I was coming from where I wrote it (it’s actually song lyrics), but it’s the kind of thing which begs to be left open-ended for both the reader, then for the writer again, in how to interpret it.
7 ThommaLyn said this (July 1, 2010 at 9:47 am)
Provocative, to be sure!
8 Tumblewords said this (July 1, 2010 at 1:07 pm)
Thanks, Tumblewords.
General comment to readers: just in case this poem is too abstruse or prone to be misunderstood, it’s a commentary about the tendency of some people to let their emotions — or other people’s emotions — do their thinking for them, how some people are all too willing to fall into irrational rabbit holes of whatever kind without sitting down, fact-checking or fact-finding, or critical thought.
9 ThommaLyn said this (July 1, 2010 at 4:07 pm)
Such depth. I love it. I understand it. I aplaud it. It says so much about the times we live in. I love the graphic, too. Cool!
((((bunches of hugs, KS))))
10 Dorothy said this (July 2, 2010 at 2:27 am)
Thanks so much, Dorothy. I’m troubled by the plethora of rampant fearmongering — whether politically-related or “doomsday scenario”-related, and troubled even more by ready, knee-jerk responses to such. Goodness knows, this world has problems, but we aren’t going to solving them by focusing our energies on imaginary boogeymen. ((((((((((((((bunches of KS hugs))))))))))))))))
11 ThommaLyn said this (July 2, 2010 at 3:32 pm)
Such truths in this. And the ending. Spot-on.
12 ThomG said this (July 3, 2010 at 9:47 am)
Made me ponder and think. Nice one
13 Jeeves said this (July 3, 2010 at 2:33 pm)
Thanks, Thom and Jeeves.
14 ThommaLyn said this (July 3, 2010 at 4:52 pm)
Conspiracy a revelation :: I liked this verse a lot
15 deepa said this (July 7, 2010 at 10:41 am)
Thanks, Deepa! Yes, more and more people are latching onto meta-conspiracy theories to try to make sense of a complex world, and in so doing they fritter away energies which could be better used to think about and to solve real world problems.
16 ThommaLyn said this (July 7, 2010 at 1:51 pm)
Glad you said it was song lyrics, I kept imagining a guitar the whole time I was reading it. I missed this last week but I’m so glad I caught it today. I could hear Josh Ritter singing
People picture evil as a little cute dude in a red suit with horns and a pitchfork. I think evil is much more subtle and hard to recognize. It whispers in our ear partial truths we want to hear and uses our own laziness and ego to help us believe lies. Loved this.
17 Dee said this (July 15, 2010 at 8:08 am)
*grin*, Dee! Yeah, I play both piano and guitar, so it works well on both. And oh my, your comment about evil is spot-on. It’s so important that people be willing to act and seek truths from a place of compassion and honest seeking, not from a place of wishing to validate their inner demons, prejudices, and intolerances.
18 ThommaLyn said this (July 15, 2010 at 1:03 pm)