Every newborn is a graduate

[PrinceMyshkin]

for Virgil and Pussnboots... in anticipation





The sun came up
like a miracle,
like your child’s first smile,
as if summoned from a well
of good-feeling.

Every newborn is a graduate
of the school of artless communication.

How do they know
as much as they do, especially
when they appear to know nothing?

[Hawkman]

Hi Prince,

I have given some thought to the question posed at the end of this poem.

Assuming for a moment that those religions and belief systems that advocate reincarnation as a real fact are absolutely right, then I suspect that the knowing looks babies (who, by his own admission, all look like Churchill) bestow upon adults, are primarily due to the fact that they are privy to the secrets of life and death and have nothing but contempt, or at best, amusement, for their progenitors.

Of course, the older they get then the more they forget about the life beyond our brief perception in this veil of tears. Their minds are overloaded with the pressure we place upon ourselves, the need to learn how to spell, add up and generally survive, to the extent that everyone stops shouting at them and saying NO! to all those interesting, investigative things that children do.

By the way, I apologise for the excessive use of subordinate clauses in this reply - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

Hi Prince,

I have given some thought to the question posed at the end of this poem.

Assuming for a moment that those religions and belief systems that advocate reincarnation as a real fact are absolutely right, then I suspect that the knowing looks babies (who, by his own admission, all look like Churchill) bestow upon adults, are primarily due to the fact that they are privy to the secrets of life and death and have nothing but contempt, or at best, amusement, for their progenitors.

I did once visit a "regressionist" who provided me a transition metaphor that led me to a vivid experience of being one of a small group of rebels who'd been put down by the Roman Legion. We were on our way to Masadah and I lived through (or imagined) the life we lived there until the decision to commit suicide rather than be taken captivity. I then had two other experiences, but they were with people I had known in this life: in one of them I foresaw in general terms the death of my younger brother a year from then.

Notwithstanding that I consider myself a rigorous agnostic - one might almost say a fundamentalist agnostic vis a vis past lives or any life after mortal death...

But even those who do believe as you describe above must to some extent be struck by the tabula rasa appearance of every newborn child, their brave but innocent every step towards full adulthood.


Of course, the older they get then the more they forget about the life beyond our brief perception in this veil of tears. Their minds are overloaded with the pressure we place upon ourselves, the need to learn how to spell, add up and generally survive, to the extent that everyone stops shouting at them and saying NO! to all those interesting, investigative things that children do.

By the way, I apologise for the excessive use of subordinate clauses in this reply - H

Apology accepted, and thank you for your speculations. J.

[blank|verse]

I'm sensing that someone you know has had a baby recently, Prince. ("Amazing, Holmes - how do you do it??")

Your restlessly shifting stanzas are a feature of a lot of your work, almost as if you find poetry itself incapable of expressing your ideas; or that you're not satisfied you've expressed them well enough.

I enjoyed the relative calmness of the first stanza and its brilliant similes and perhaps less the third, with its 'irritable searching after facts' as Keats said when discussing Shakespeare's 'negative capability'.

Maybe you are seeking the truth of each subject you alight on; which might go someway to explain the shifting stanzas, as if each is another spade-load of soil slung away as you dig for the treasure of Truth!!

[PrinceMyshkin]

I'm sensing that someone you know has had a baby recently, Prince. ("Amazing, Holmes - how do you do it??")
Surely even Holmes stumbled from time to time? (Apropos which have you read Julian Barnes' magnificent Arthur and George? The baby I had in mind is the one hinted at in the dedication, the background to which can be seen in Virgil's blog where he reveals that he and his wife, hitherto childless, are about to adopt a child.


Your restlessly shifting stanzas are a feature of a lot of your work, almost as if you find poetry itself incapable of expressing your ideas; or that you're not satisfied you've expressed them well enough.

Well, it's rather that I fear that spelling things out might over-tax my ability to write poetically, but whether as a default or for its own virtues, I've come to love saying only what I think to be essential or as I tried to express in http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42672


After the poem
comes the verbiage,
the slow leaking away of inspiration


I enjoyed the relative calmness of the first stanza and its brilliant similes and perhaps less the third, with its 'irritable searching after facts' as Keats said when discussing Shakespeare's 'negative capability'.

Maybe you are seeking the truth of each subject you alight on; which might go someway to explain the shifting stanzas, as if each is another spade-load of soil slung away as you dig for the treasure of Truth!!

I would prefer to think, or hope, that each of the three stanzas is THE truth, viewed from different angles...

[blank|verse]

I would prefer to think, or hope, that each of the three stanzas is THE truth, viewed from different angles...
You've discovered the Truth?! Wow, you must let me have a look some time! What does it say about that Jesus fella? (And God, come to think of it!)

And I presume that, from the above, we can expect a poem about a blackbird soon... or has someone done that already??

The baby I had in mind is the one hinted at in the dedication, the background to which can be seen in Virgil's blog where he reveals that he and his wife, hitherto childless, are about to adopt a child.
And I wasn't aware of that, so it seems a fitting dedication and good luck to Virgil and his wife on their adoption.

[PrinceMyshkin]

You've discovered the Truth?! Wow, you must let me have a look some time! What does it say about that Jesus fella? (And God, come to think of it!)

I see that you, like a certain other fellow I could mention, did not stay for the answer!

The "truth" to which I was alluding is the very one that was proposed in a previous post: "Maybe you are seeking the truth of each subject you alight on; which might go someway to explain the shifting stanzas, as if each is another spade-load of soil slung away as you dig for the treasure of Truth!!"

[Virgil]

for Virgil and Pussnboots... in anticipation





The sun came up
like a miracle,
like your child’s first smile,
as if summoned from a well
of good-feeling.

Every newborn is a graduate
of the school of artless communication.

How do they know
as much as they do, especially
when they appear to know nothing?



Ha!! Thank you so much Prince! I am going to print this out and take it with us. I'm going to read it to him and save it for when he can read it himself. Many thank yous!!! You are too kind. :)

http://rlv.zcache.com/lovely_turquoise_and_chocolate_brown_thank_you_sti cker-p217742301639378505qjcl_400.jpg

[Buh4Bee]

From the perspective of a new parent, what isn't to love.

[lallison]

Spoken like a true teacher. Congratulations Virgil, it's a triumph all around! : )

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Virgil, Jersea and lallison.

[dizzydoll]

oops. double post

[dizzydoll]

I loved it, I loved Breath too...

You have a feel for this I can see. Excellent stuff. :D

[blazeofglory]

for Virgil and Pussnboots... in anticipation





The sun came up
like a miracle,
like your child’s first smile,
as if summoned from a well
of good-feeling.

Every newborn is a graduate
of the school of artless communication.

How do they know
as much as they do, especially
when they appear to know nothing?



This is mystic, enigmatic and probing into the unknowns; of course delving into the hitherto undiscovered truth

[Babyguile]

Crazy good.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Many thanks, dizzydoll, blazeofglory and TheDave.