Neither your left foot nor your right

[PrinceMyshkin]

A poem is a breakthrough
into territory you cannot see
in advance. Neither foot
has in mind
what the other foot
will do, but they are bound to each other
in a sacred pact. This is you,
this is the poem, neither your left foot
nor your right,
but the connection between them.

[hack]

This is true Prince.
I stumble through all of mine.
...peace...

[hillwalker]

Yes - a wonderful piece, Prince. Unfortunately the only connection between my size-9s is when I accidentally tie one boot lace to the other.

H

[Hawkman]

Being ambi-sinister,
I always put my feet
somewhat in a dogy place
for poetry to greet.
I Consequently fall
far to often on my rear
so I'm permanently pained,
in that area or near.

[MorpheusSandman]

What I really like about this is what it implies both about the act of walking and the act of creating. Like when walking, you usually have a destination in mind, but, also like when walking, you're almost always destined to find things new and unexpected along the way as the autonomy of your connected feet, like the autonomy of your unconscious creativity, eternally keeps going and taking in everything (or, at least as much as possible) around it. Lovely poem, Prince.

[lallison]

hmmm...that would help explain why I'm always getting so many blisters and stubbing my toes on door frames.

I thought this was the most revealing line of your poem:

has in mind
might sound quirky, but a bit of mind is what your feet seem to be exploring and leaving on display.

Deep thought, great poem
lal

[Virgil]

Pretty good. I really like the ending where the the poem becomes the connection:


...This is you,
this is the poem, neither your left foot
nor your right,
but the connection between them.

Which is different from where the poem started.

[blank|verse]

I can't help think this was in some way inspired by your response to my 'ball' poem and the extent to which the subconscious influences the writing of a poem. If not, then I think it certainly applies.

A thoughtful piece as always, Prince. To be honest, I got a bit confused by the extended metaphor at the end, trying to work out which is me and which the poem, but that's probably just me, and I fully understood the gist of what you were saying!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Many thanks Hack, Hillwalker, Hawkman, Morpheus Sandman & Virgil, and as for:


I can't help think this was in some way inspired by your response to my 'ball' poem and the extent to which the subconscious influences the writing of a poem. If not, then I think it certainly applies.

A thoughtful piece as always, Prince. To be honest, I got a bit confused by the extended metaphor at the end, trying to work out which is me and which the poem, but that's probably just me, and I fully understood the gist of what you were saying!

I seldom know what in particular inspired this poem or that, much as I can seldom if ever remember what prompted a certain dream, but as for which is you & which the poem, surely they are always - if only briefly - synchronous?

[Lumiere]

Being ambi-sinister,
I always put my feet
somewhat in a dogy place
for poetry to greet.
I Consequently fall
far to often on my rear
so I'm permanently pained,
in that area or near.

. . . hmm, yes. The other side of writing poetry.

!PRINCE! : I love this poem. I haven't read all your poems, or even a significant portion of them, but out of those I have had the pleasure of reading,
this one I love best! It tastes well on whatever hidden organ it is that receives poetry.

[PrinceMyshkin]

. . . hmm, yes. The other side of writing poetry.

!PRINCE! : I love this poem. I haven't read all your poems, or even a significant portion of them, but out of those I have had the pleasure of reading,
this one I love best! It tastes well on whatever hidden organ it is that receives poetry.

Since you quoted Hawkman's witty response to my poem, I'm not sure which of us you're complimenting, but if it is indeed me, it's much appreciated (and, really, Hawkman's isn't too bad either).

[Hawkman]

Greetings my Prince, and thanks for not picking me up on the typo, dogy is supposed to be dodgy although I suppose doggy would be equally apposite. I liked your poem by the way, which I forgot to say this morning as I was a little rushed.

Please consider yourself appreciated by the Hawk :)

Best, H

[PrinceMyshkin]

Greetings my Prince, and thanks for not picking me up on the typo, dogy is supposed to be dodgy although I suppose doggy would be equally apposite. I liked your poem by the way, which I forgot to say this morning as I was a little rushed.

Please consider yourself appreciated by the Hawk :)

Best, H

Without I hope sounding boastful about that poem, it meant a lot to me in that I'd been feeling that the well had dried up. Indeed it's a while since I received one of those inspirational opening lines that I love to wonder at and explore, in collaboration with my intuition. I'd been remembering an exchange between WH Auden and a friend of his in which the friend asked him how he felt after he'd completed a poem. Auden replied: "Like a man who might never write another one."

[_Shannon_]

This really resonates with me now...as I feel like a spinal cord injury trying to relearn how to walk in regards to my writing....

Great poem!

[milktea]

I couldn't connect the first sentence to the poem, but starting at Neither I fell for this poem ^_~ Thank you for sharing.

[qimissung]

"They are bound to each other in a sacred pact..." that's my favorite line...

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Shannon, Milktea and Qimissung...

[Jesterhead]

I enjoyed this poem, The imagery was well written with the connection of creating a poem to the act of walking.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Many thanks Lumiere, Hawkman, Shannon & Milktea.

[AuntShecky]

Matthew 6:3
http://bible.cc/matthew/6-3.htm

[PrinceMyshkin]

Matthew 6:3
http://bible.cc/matthew/6-3.htm

How apropos! And it reminds me of a few lines from a poem by F.R. Scott re Canada's WWII Prime Minister, MacKenzie King, who sought to defuse the controversy over the possible introduction of conscription. In parliament he announced that we would have "conscription if necessary but not necessarily conscription" to which Scott responded:



He never let his on-the-one-hand
Know what his on-the-other-hand was doing