I

[K K Srivastava]

I am I,
a farrago of heap, gargantuan,
of myself.
Aglow with my colossus vanity,
driven by my monstrous
avalanche
towards my ambitions,
I, in-kneed before my impuissant ego.

Plunging into deeps and shoals of thoughts
about myself,
I have killed my emotions,
and succumbed to my servitudes.
And thus, have swallowed last drops of shame.
I reject the echoes from the rational
world,
I, one with the lemurs, who talk my language,
I, a part of limping
stories that gaze, helplessly,
into anfractuous shadows.

I am I.
Hidden,
quiescent vultures blind
my faith in my interior being.
I, a multivalent crowd of myself, making me
mad and ugly but
acceptable.

Not quivering before illogic,
I do yield to unrealities
toying with bigger unrealities.
Wearing numerous looks,
I nauseate intellectually
amid my resonating voice.
And search, desperately, the one in me.
"Barabas, Barabas, Barabas,"
deeply embedded.("......" Christopher Marlowe in Jew of Malta)

I am I,
with neither sense nor sensibility,
neither vision nor grace,
still I explore within my explosions,
hopelessly agile and helplessly
awful.
I have a delightfully active “I”
purring to me, incessantly,
about my frowning ego,
never going tippy.

I have neither “greatest completeness, with
all the incidental consequences” nor do I have
“entire truthfulness”
still my “self-perception” hounds me
as does hound an eagle a rat.("......." Kafka in Diaries)

My arrogance,
groovy,
deranges me so pathetically,
I live,
continually,
amid my life alone,
flickering, occasionally,
calmed down by the fury within.

I have a buried conscience
ejaculating about itself
as I stay awake,
and again about itself,
as slumber steals upon me,
realizing not “people being naturally full
of themselves when they have nothing else in themselves.” ("....... " Joseph Addison)

I am I,
unstirred within my mental torpor,
fabulously piteous,
but perfectly caged, firmly
within the frills of my orotund, dead shadow.

PS-- This poem is dedicated to those who cannot step out of themselves.

[Delta40]

I think you have some wonderful lines here and it is certainly an 'I' poem. I was engulfed by your magnitude

[JBI]

http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17515

[Jozanny]

JBI, my sympathy, but I think the problem lies with how Chris titled the sub forums, and I've given up policing, and do not critique, as I use my training for published authors.

I do not know what wording would cut down on personal writings posted in the wrong place. Something like "Published and Established Poets" sounds tacky.

Delta, what is it exactly that you've posted to the OP? How does it assist in learning about the strength or weakness of the writing? It is not an *I* poem, but more properly a confessional piece, for a start.

[BienvenuJDC]

I'm upset that someone can give a one character title, but there is a 5 character rule for posts....what's up with that?

[Jozanny]

I'm upset that someone can give a one character title, but there is a 5 character rule for posts....what's up with that?

Thanks Bien. I am having a despondent evening and you managed a chuckle out of me:cornut: One letter titles shouldn't be allowed if one word posts aren't, eh?

I also think Admin should consider just getting rid of General Writing. I know LN is not P&W but P&W got rid of it in their forums; too much fighting and stuff. Users can discuss publishing and marketing, and academics, but the free workshopping is out. I think it works better not to combine literary discussions with personal work. So there.

[BienvenuJDC]

Thanks Bien. I am having a despondent evening and you managed a chuckle out of me:cornut: One letter titles shouldn't be allowed if one word posts aren't, eh?

I'm glad that I could chuckle up your day.... :biggrin5:

[Jozanny]

I have to reformat an old poetry manuscript and it takes me awhile, and it gets me bummed, all the pc upgrades, and I hate Word, and then I had an argument in the kitchen about what I had to live for and had to force myself to focus on not asking those questions (sigh). I cannot make a living freelancing. I might pull in something here or there before my timer buzzes, but--my advice to the OP is stop posting and start researching poetry workshops, if you really want to learn how to improve yourself in the genre put some effort into it. Like learning what sub-forums are for what topics before leaping. There is a personal poetry section in General Writing but skip that. Talk to your teachers.

[K K Srivastava]

Oh my God, so many reactions. Why not? "I" really pinches. I am not a novice in the field of poetry. I am a published author with two books that have more than thirty reviews internationally by poets of repute from India, U.K, Canada, Austria and New Zealand. Higher poetry, said Walt Whitman, requires higher audience. Bravo. Best of luck.

KK