Miscellaneous:

[solo]

What use
my sympathy
when I cannot help thee?

What use my love
when I cannot reach thee?
What use my belief
when I cannot vindicate thee?
What use my faith
when I
cannot ressurect thee?


............... The anthem plays on
............... within hearing...observe:
................understanding but not grasping
............... the autistic boy-girl
............... marches on regardless;
............... the flower-child sings along
............... knowing but not caring;
............... the melancholy poetess
............... scribbles on
............... in exaltation of sadness
............... or madness
............... or both
............... but the anthem...
............... the anthem plays on
............... sounding out slowly
............... the end of their days

©2008 Robynne

[MsJacquiiC]

sad poem - evocative to think the autistic "boy-girl" could care enough to be part of the anthem for three though - seems a bit redundant.

What's the motivation for this piece?

Jacquii.

[solo]

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Originally Posted by MsJacquiiC

sad poem - evocative to think the autistic "boy-girl" could care enough to be part of the anthem for three though - seems a bit redundant.

What's the motivation for this piece?

Jacquii.

ok miss jc....i geuss it's rather personal and therefore rather obscure...

it was meant to be about three ways of dealing with tragedy....

1)a reaction like an autistic child...ie burying oneself in marching on...schedules....an organized life of work work work( not a real autistic child then....just sort of behaving like one)

2)the flower child: a care-free person...who ignores that anything is wrong....pretends that he/she is happy...even when they know things are not as they should be

3) and then there is the melancholy poet....who seems to relish the tragedy...almost thrives on being miserable

all three unhealthy ways of coping ....and I have been guilty of all three...

the anthem sounds the end of their days...like the theme song at the end of the movie...

ie...i'm sick of my own unhealthy coping mechanisms

hope that explains it a little for you

sol

[erikestabrook]

the more confounding I suppose the more I like it,
to me this read on an entirely different level

I still love the first part so much,
and it easier to understand of course,

so it seems they scribble to an anthem,
makes me think of how I write,
and of course writing is a ceaseless effort,
with rewards and also the fact that another work will happen whether you plan it or not,
rather than get lost in my immortality , I think every poem dies the moment it hits the page

[MsJacquiiC]

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Originally Posted by solo

ie...i'm sick of my own unhealthy coping mechanisms

Hmmm- that does explain a bit more about the piece really.
I was wondering about this poem because depending on how you read it - it tends to be a little condescending - but now I understand - You mean... Akin to shedding a skin of sorts and becoming more true to ones self. Yes - I know this bit of misery well.

Nice write = Thanx for the explanation SOLO - It does really make for a more complete and understood read

The Following Text Is Quoted:

Originally Posted by erikestabrook

rather than get lost in my immortality , I think every poem dies the moment it hits the page

Hmmm - I've heard these sentiments before E - but I don't know if I agree - Because you say the cliche I've heard before about human beings. Each second that passes - I'm closer to my deathbed or some such - I don't necessarily agree with that statement being made about a poem - In fact I strongly disagree. Point of contention- when I posted the recent Edna St. Vincent Millay biography - I read her poems and they seemed so new and novel to me... Written back in the 1900s no doubt - but to have read her works - seems like the poems took on a bit of life - Like the POEM is everlasting and most immortal. So I think the moment a poem "hits the page" is just when life is breathed into it

Jacquii.

[solo]

"I think every poem dies the moment it hits the page"

Eric in a sense it does....I think it's a bit like child-birth....at the moment of birth you cease to be pregnant...but the life you have born forth begins a journey of its own....a bit like a poem you have written begins a life of its own with its readers...although it may be dead to you by that stage

[butchiesmom]

I think Diana Gabaldon described childbirth the best when one of her characters (in the Outlander series) said that a mother mourns the child who might've been. Meaning when the child is a girl, she mourns the boy that child might've been. I don't think I've written this well enough but it really described it so well.

Anyway, when I read your explanation about your poem it made so much sense. I went through a severe mental breakdown. The process of climbing back out of it was long and hard and I was dragged, mentally kicking and screaming, from the place I felt the safest by a therapist who knew me so well.

It's hard to change your attitude toward life, I should know. I applaud and support your effort.

hugs,
Gail