Six Men

[PrinceMyshkin]

Six bodies
dead or alive or dying
wheezing on the 7 or 9%
of oxygen available to them.
1500 feet underground.
Press your ears to the earth.
Do you feel anything?

A man
Six men.
Their faces and bodies
black with coal-dust.
Two of them, perhaps,
unfaithful to their wives.
One a sometimes
abusive father.
A little league baseball coach,
a guy who told the corniest jokes.
An alcoholic,
a glutton for food,
a Republican, a Democrat,
a man.
Six men.

[Sweets America]

Oh, great poem! (and I don't say that because it's from you, eh?)

I love its structure. The fact that you start with calling them 'men' and seeing the common ground on which they are. Putting forward the need for oxygen, which puts all mankind on the same level.
And then, I love how you reach for each individual, each life, each man in his personality, his faults. One might be tempted to think: the abusive father, the unfaithful husband and such, are just paying for their faults by being trapped underground.But, one must also remember that beyong their faults, those persons are still men in the end. I think the ending of your poem is excellent:

'a man.
Six men.'

It tells everything.:thumbs_up

[PrinceMyshkin]

Oh, great poem! (and I don't say that because it's from you, eh?)

I love its structure. The fact that you start with calling them 'men' and seeing the common ground on which they are. Putting forward the need for oxygen, which puts all mankind on the same level.
And then, I love how you reach for each individual, each life, each man in his personality, his faults. One might be tempted to think: the abusive father, the unfaithful husband and such, are just paying for their faults by being trapped underground.But, one must also remember that beyong their faults, those persons are still men in the end. I think the ending of your poem is excellent:

'a man.
Six men.'

It tells everything.:thumbs_up

Thank you so much and yes of course you caught the intent of the several references in it. I hesitated about the possible presumption of imagining what they might have been in their above-ground lives, meaning as you understood, that they did not need to have been exemplary, faultless men to deserve our empathy now. They have been underground, unheard from now for about 12 days, no sign thus far whether they are alive or dead. None of us, I think, can imagine what is going through their minds if they are still alive.

[ampoule]

This is very moving Prince. I think about things like this a lot, a group of people in any situation really, whether a tragedy or the work place or even a ballgame and their individual lives. Thank you.

[PrinceMyshkin]

The king in his munificence
sends out breads as large
as his royal coach
but the poor are not assuaged.

He sends a herd
of roast bisons
a flock of partridges
prepared by his royal chefs,
pate de foie gras,
but the poor are not content.

He trades his ermine
for a set of stinking ragged attire
but the poor are not satisfied;
abandons his castles to them
and takes refuge in one
of their hovels and hands them
the key to his treasury.

“But why,” they cry again
and again, “must we always
play the poor?”





Jerry Newman © Aug 6, 2007

[firefangled]

The king in his munificence
sends out breads as large
as his royal coach
but the poor are not assuaged.

He sends a herd
of roast bisons
a flock of partridges
prepared by his royal chefs,
pate de foie gras,
but the poor are not content.

He trades his ermine
for a set of stinking ragged attire
but the poor are not satisfied;
abandons his castles to them
and takes refuge in one
of their hovels and hands them
the key to his treasury.

“But why,” they cry again
and again, “must we always
play the poor?”





Jerry Newman © Aug 6, 2007



The wit of this is so rich. Taking liberty with a poem by Gary Snyder, One Should Not Talk To a Skilled Hunter About What Is Forbidden by the Buddha, it is the truth and truth hidden deep in that.

[CdnReader]

I really like this one, Jer. Thanks. :)

[Pendragon]

Six Women ( With Apology to Jerry)

Six women...
worn and weary,
sick with grief and loss.
One wonders if he knows she's pregnant,
Two wonder if they knew the truth,
Three wonder only if they suffer,
All wonder if they'll come back again.

One a new bride,
One a grandmother,
Two with secret lovers,
Two with sons.
In the end they are all
Six women...
Sharing in each other's loss...

Pendragon
9/5/05

[CdnReader]

Very touching, Pen.... I enjoyed this.

[PrinceMyshkin]

[B]Six Women ( With Apology to Jerry)


Apology uncalled for! We are all here to inspire each other, aren't we?

[Pendragon]

Apology uncalled for! We are all here to inspire each other, aren't we?True enough. Thank you, mon ami!

[littlewing53]

P n P... wow!...beautiful and moving...it is good to remember the 12 ....

[PrinceMyshkin]

There are illnesses
that behave as if they were cures,
enlightenment that results
in the progressive sealing
of the eyes and mind,
conquest that poses as liberation,
war that knows itself as peace.

We live in a strange planet
where pygmies stride around
like giants, and the lowest
are elected to high office





Jerry Newman © 21Sep07

[Granny5]

There are illnesses
that behave as if they were cures,
enlightenment that results
in the progressive sealing
of the eyes and mind,
conquest that poses as liberation,
war that knows itself as peace.

We live in a strange planet
where pygmies stride around
like giants, and the lowest
are elected to high office




Jerry Newman © 21Sep07


Great, Jerry. We have our own pygmies and lowest in high office here in the U.S.