Half-hearted

[PrinceMyshkin]

There is the half we owe each other.
We do not live but with a divided heart.
Half of it is in Jerusalem, Karachi,
our kids, our lover or our
bank account. The other half
will always try again to be whole.

[hillwalker]

Nice sentiments, Prince. We all have our hearts fragmented in some way by those parts we leave with past lovers or lost places - and it's in man's nature to search for that missing part to make us whole again.

[dafydd manton]

That's a lovely, wistful little verse. Nothing I can say that Hill hasn't so eloquently said. I really enjoyed that. Thanks.

[symphony]

Ah the fragments we dont even know where we left...
Love it, Jer.

[blazeofglory]

There is the half we owe each other.
We do not live but with a divided heart.
Half of it is in Jerusalem, Karachi,
our kids, our lover or our
bank account. The other half
will always try again to be whole.



Few poems are so loftily! This is exactly a state all are hemmed in, aren’t they! Fragmented. Desiccated ! Incompletes! Clogged. So much expressive of the pangs we are going through of suffering. Mother there, father somewhere, children disoriented and dissipated
I have no more words to comment. Running short of them

[AuntShecky]

This is so concise and succinct any comment from the likes o' me would be superfluous. What a sentiment, though! Both halves of what passes for me heart are breakin'!

[Delta40]

very nice and I thought of the self-generating liver for some reason. I like the pursuit of wholeness

[GEETASHREE]

There is the half we owe each other.
We do not live but with a divided heart.
Half of it is in Jerusalem, Karachi,
our kids, our lover or our
bank account. The other half
will always try again to be whole.


An exact summation of human despair and alienation - characteristics of modern times. I liked the touch of pragmatism(the bank account) though with the dramatic nostalgia craftily juxtaposed. Extremely universal in its ambience. Loved it.

[Maryd.]

Wow Hill, loved the depth of this one. Well done.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Blaze, Auntie, Geetashree, MaryD, Symphony, Dafy, Hill, Delta: thank you all.

[Bar22do]

Thoughtful and very well crafted, universally applicable... Thanks - Bar

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thoughtful and very well crafted, universally applicable... Thanks - Bar

Thank you, Bar

[kittypaws]

Well, half is better then nothing, especially if you control the bank account.

Kitypaws

[PrinceMyshkin]

Well, half is better then nothing, especially if you control the bank account.

Kitypaws

There's a searing exchange in "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" in which Glenda Jackson, suggests to her mother that she should expect better from her marriage.

"Well, dear," the rather tight-lipped mother replies, "half a loaf is better than none."

To which Jackson vehemently responds: "No, it isn't!"

[blank|verse]

Is it just me, or are there three halves in this poem? The half 'we owe each other'; the half 'in Jerusalem (etc)'; and the other 'always trying again to be whole'. Or are the last and first the same, trying to connect with others?

I found it a bit distracting trying to work this out in what is otherwise an interesting piece, Prince, written in your trademark forgivably didactic tone!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Is it just me, or are there three halves in this poem? The half 'we owe each other'; the half 'in Jerusalem (etc)'; and the other 'always trying again to be whole'. Or are the last and first the same, trying to connect with others?

I found it a bit distracting trying to work this out in what is otherwise an interesting piece, Prince, written in your trademark forgivably didactic tone!

Did you consider that I might be employing Quantum Arithmetic?

Seriously, I never considered the possibility that there might be confusion re the # of 1/2 hearts. I meant there is the one that is always with us, which is the same 1/2 that strives to become whole again, and the one other 1/2 that has been given to one of the examples I offered. Thanks for your comment.

And belated thanks to you, Bar, as well.

[blank|verse]

Did you consider that I might be employing Quantum Arithmetic?
I struggle with long division, so... no. But thanks for the clarification.