dr_con Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Tropism (Solstice 2013) I struggled to sit today And gave up believing in sympathetic magic the monk who abandoned his practice and finally after long struggle gets it makes my fight noble in the ongoing drama we call our lives I struggled to sit today And I know giving up is an illusion part of the unfolding what was never lost can never be found and the crows are loud in their conferring I struggled to sit today Never having been drawn to birds I’m surprised at how often they appear in my poetry they seem to shout from every flowered corner drawing the myriad directions with a certainty my oracle infested brain I struggled to sit today cannot clarify how I was filled with stories of plant intelligence the battles of friends with life altering depth the crash of the living nervous system happening on a scale never dreamed but certainly hinted at in localized apocalypses Did we care about caesars destruction or the Mayan civilization crumbling in micro what we now recreate in macro and the billions of others who explain their beginnings by defining and categorizing their ends I struggled to sit today and my therapist once asked What do you mean by a legacy? We are so easily confused now conflating Dogen and Joyce with the likes of Trump and Murdoch the former tried to wake from history the later reshape it to their own mad ends I struggled to sit today its the season of Solstice and Yule and formative stories about the return of the light and the people we strive with to pass through the long winters night and I’m grateful for those that remind me Christ just gets in the Way and the avowed atheists who smile warmly when I say Merry Christmas no need to explain the night I played scrooge and denied three times the return of the sun making a point selfish selfish selfish that the story still happens even without any belief but with the faith that it is all part of the same I struggled to sit today I remember when one of my Teachers after listening to me go on on on about my worries saying This is enlightenment! your life and your goal are the same and my friend who would hide this entire season in fear of the death that it brings in all fairness reflecting on the ones we had lost and how she taught me Being the Star of your own life is the thing And I got it backwards so I struggled to sit today wanting to be all the birds to be my cigarette to be the lost years with my daughter to be my own story and our Teacher said What do you mean sit badly and we laughed and laughed and laughed and so I want to extend this greeting Despite our best efforts the Light returns it never went away it never was lost You are sitting right now we don’t practice to Become we practice because we are And all of this all of this all of this is calling us home. Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmarti1 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I KNOW I do not get all this, but I DO like these: the later reshape it to their own mad ends Of course, you are now on their "enemies list". :) And: the people we strive with to pass through the long winters night I have never had a catastrophic, familial "movie Christmas", but 2 were spent COMPLETELY alone. Your insight here is keen. And: Despite our best efforts the Light returns it never went away it never was lost The universe saying, "Try and stop me!" Just sayin': I do miss punctuation. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted December 23, 2013 Author Share Posted December 23, 2013 Thanks DC! Yes you got the important bits;-) As to punctuation, well its a stylistic choice, AKA Merwin, I'll drop it as soon as I'm finished with it but @ the moment it serves to help me think about the lines in ways proper syntax did not;-) So, I feel like maybe another year? Maybe shorter? Try a couple see what decisions you make the same or different. Many Thanks for Commenting! Con/Jur/D Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David W. Parsley Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Speculative, thoughtful, nuanced, anguished. Definite echoes of Merwin here in tone and image (crows conferring is a peculiar affinity), but more ruminitive and more concretely personal. I hope all is well, doc. This piece speaks to me. Thanks, - Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted December 28, 2013 Author Share Posted December 28, 2013 All is well Dave, and thank you! Yes, this is a favorite of my own recent work. Usually, I don't 'feel' a particular affinity to a piece, but sometimes, I have something that resembles 'pride' and in this, I have that rare feeling;-) Many Thanks for the flattering flatter and I'm gratified it spoke to you! Juris Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Interesting title and a most fascinating human piece. No matter the kaleidoscopic complexity of the mind, or how we perceive and in turn are perceived; we remain physical beings and subjects of a spinning orb. Perhaps evolution will leave behind the "chrysalis" of mankind for an intangible butterfly of higher being. Or maybe I've just recalled without thinking... "Childhood's End"... an early Arthur C. Clarke novel.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Juris, there is wisdom in letting others have their way once in awhile and not being troubled by it. It's not "selling out" or giving in. The speaker "struggled to sit," but he did it anyway. If we go to see a movie, it's not about the movie. It matters not which movie we see. It's about the going, together, to see a movie. Tony PS re the title -- I read somewhere that moths and other insects which fly toward streetlights, flames, etc. do so because they're confused. They use the moon to navigate, and the other lights throw them off course, so they just spend their time flying around and around the nearest light which has attracted them. Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted January 12, 2014 Author Share Posted January 12, 2014 Geoff and Tony- Thank you so much- I'm a huge fan of Childhood's end and Tony your take on the poem is quite enthralling;-) Thank You Both! Juris Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Read this on Poetry Superhighway- Recommended: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/psh/2014/01/12/january-2014-worldwide-open-poetry-reading Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyv Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Very cool reading, Juris -- I read along as I listened -- and a very cool mention of PMO. Thank you for this. Tony Note: It's an entertaining radio show (I listened to all of it), and Juris' reading of Tropism (Solstice 2013) starts around 22 or 23 minutes into the show for those who are short on time and would like to jump directly to it. Quote Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcmarti1 Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Read this on Poetry Superhighway- Recommended: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/psh/2014/01/12/january-2014-worldwide-open-poetry-reading I have also listened to the program, right where Tony suggested. Nice reading, Juris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_con Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Thanks Tony and DC. I'll do better next time! ;-) Juris Quote thegateless.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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