The Naked Poet & the Light at the End of the Tunnel

[PrinceMyshkin]

If a naked poet came to visit you one day
and that day was a Monday,
would you let him in?

Or if, half dressed, she came
on a Thursday,
would you invite her in?

And if she or he was looking for the truth,
would you say:

Truth is the light at the end of the tunnel,
fading...

[Skia]

Love the poem, makes me think about it, not sure I get it, but some i do, but I'm not sure if these are rhetorical questions or questions we have to answer within ourselves?

All the best Prince.

[hillwalker]

Perplexing - both the question and the possible answer. I'm still not sure if the first two verses have any sgnificance beyond grabbing the reader's attention... but they did get mine.

H

[dafydd manton]

I'm guessing, perhaps wrongly, that some of this has come out of indivdual characters whose work we read so regularly on here, and if I'm wrong, I promise to shut up, permanently! Really enjoyed it - it has long worried me that the light at the end of the tunnel may well be a train coming the other way.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Skia:

Love the poem, makes me think about it, not sure I get it, but some i do, but I'm not sure if these are rhetorical questions or questions we have to answer within ourselves?

All the best Prince.


Perplexing - both the question and the possible answer. I'm still not sure if the first two verses have any sgnificance beyond grabbing the reader's attention... but they did get mine.

H

If I might answer both of you at once. This is, to me, a jeux d'esprit. I began when I thought of the line

Truth is the light at the end of the tunnel
which I liked at first even though I soon saw that it was a) a truism and b) somewhat pompous and characteristic of the didacticism I'm trying to rid myself of. After a few days it occurred to me that by adding "fading" I had somewhat softened the line and made it, to me at least, both more interesting and more true. That is, the "truth" when it first appeared to us would be a brilliant, blinding light but the "truth" at, say, 3:16 pm of any given day might not still or equally be truthful at 6:05 pm the same day or 4:11 am the next day...

After that it was a question of devising a poem that would end with that amended line. My first couple of efforts were, I thought, forced and without the least bit of sparkle that I wanted. The concept of the "naked poet" (whatever the hell that means!) occurred to me independent of that earlier line and I immediately liked it for what I saw as the zany humour of it.

So, no, please don't either of you struggle to make coherent sense of the whole but enjoy the fun I hope is in it, the poet's intention to keep twisting the sense a little bit away from what you might expect.

Apologies for going on at this great length.

[dafydd manton]

*Man, he's good!*

[hillwalker]

Ah, Prince, it really is an inspiration when you allow us to discover how you reached the final product - what appears as effortless obviously takes a good deal of thought and refinement. Worthwhile.

H

[Lumiere]

I thought "fading" an excellent end....the only possible end, in some sense.

As for the naked poets, why not? It seemed right to me. I'm very interested in aspects of the creative process that the creator cannot totally justify; these aspects seem the most true.

The density of this poem - of all your poems - is so satisfying, and I thank you for gifting us with them.
But I wonder, if you'll excuse me, why I'm reading these via online forum instead of in a proper book.

[PrinceMyshkin]

*Man, he's good!*

If I may quote the estimable Mae West:


"When I'm good, I'm very good. When I'm bad, I'm better"

[blank|verse]

Yes. Hey, I write poems. Now put these clothes on.

Yes. Hey, I write poems. No, you look fine!

No. I would sing to them merrily: 'The light at the end of the tunnel is the light of an oncoming train! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNDBaiLTsI)'

Is there an echo in this tunnel, Prince? Entertaining and imaginative as always, PM.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Dafy:
I'm guessing, perhaps wrongly, that some of this has come out of indivdual characters whose work we read so regularly on here, and if I'm wrong, I promise to shut up, permanently!

Well, perhaps with the Thursday poet I had YOU in mind!

Hillwalker:
Ah, Prince, it really is an inspiration when you allow us to discover how you reached the final product - what appears as effortless obviously takes a good deal of thought and refinement. Worthwhile.

It takes a lot of the “effort” out of it when one is having fun! Thanks.

Lumiere:
As for the naked poets, why not? It seemed right to me. I'm very interested in aspects of the creative process that the creator cannot totally justify; these aspects seem the most true.

The density of this poem - of all your poems - is so satisfying, and I thank you for gifting us with them.
But I wonder, if you'll excuse me, why I'm reading these via online forum instead of in a proper book.

I too am interested in how others make their poems. Maybe this remark of yours would motivate others to report on their own processes? And then there’s Yeats:


The friends that have it I do wrong
Whenever I remake a song
Should know what issue is at stake,
It is myself that I remake.

As for why you’re reading these online rather than in a printed book: much as I would like to have a 2nd book of my poems. It’s a question of whether I put my enregy into going around, cap in hand, seeking a publisher, or - or I write a few more poems.

And you, Sr Blank|verse, are a scamp!
Yes. Hey, I write poems. Now put these clothes on.

Yes. Hey, I write poems. No, you look fine!

No. I would sing to them merrily: 'The light at the end of the tunnel is the light of an oncoming train! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwNDBaiLTsI)'

Is there an echo in this tunnel, Prince? Entertaining and imaginative as always, PM.

But thanks for your and the other comments.

[dafydd manton]

Prince, I don't know what you mean!!!!!!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Prince, I don't know what you mean!!!!!!

You know the saying "Behind every great man there's a great woman"? I was suggesting that within every great man, there's a half-dressed.... oh, never mind!

[dafydd manton]

Ah, yes, quite, I see what you mean......does she have to be a poetess? Or is this merely preference?? And do I have to admit to these images in public, or is it our secret?

[PrinceMyshkin]

Ah, yes, quite, I see what you mean......does she have to be a poetess? Or is this merely preference?? And do I have to admit to these images in public, or is it our secret?

It is assuredly one of our many secrets: some that I have from you, some that you have from me and some that we have from each other and from our inquisitive neighbours.

[dafydd manton]

QED, Sir!!

[Lumiere]

Ah, yes. I understand.

By "2nd book" do you mean to say you already have one out at present?

[PrinceMyshkin]

Ah, yes. I understand.

By "2nd book" do you mean to say you already have one out at present?

See my PM to you.

[Virgil]

I guess i'm with Hillwalker on this. I don't see the significance of the first part of the poem with the climax. Monday, Thursday? Naked?

[Jerrybaldy]

Hello I
I said a while back that it would be interesting if we could write blind and play a game of guess who wrote what. This one would be easy, it has prince written all over it. I'd better add that is a good thing. Not sure about this Bromance between you and Daf though. :D
cheers
II

[Delta40]

when I read your poems at 5.00am Prince, the cogs of my brain start turning as I try to read the mystery behind what you have written.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Hello I
I said a while back that it would be interesting if we could write blind and play a game of guess who wrote what. This one would be easy, it has prince written all over it

Damn! And I thought I was being so subtle!


The Naked Poet & the Light at the End of the Tunnel

If a naked poet came to visit you one day
and that day was a Monday,
would you let him in?

Or if, half dressed, she came
on a Thursday,
would you invite her in?

And if she or he was looking for the truth,
would you say:

Truth is the light at the end of the tunnel,
fading...

[zoolane]

If a naked poet came to visit you one day
and that day was a Monday,
would you let him in?

Or if, half dressed, she came
on a Thursday,
would you invite her in?

And if she or he was looking for the truth,
would you say:

Truth is the light at the end of the tunnel,
fading...




Hi Prince,
My understand is that it about : being or soul appear to someone as male and female to see if same reaction and truth is light at end of tunnel: is said to me anyway is if look hard enough that you shall find the answer.
Zoo

[Jerrybaldy]

Lol you clever git :)

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Zoolane, Jerry, Delta and:

I guess i'm with Hillwalker on this. I don't see the significance of the first part of the poem with the climax. Monday, Thursday? Naked?

I think one could find a coherent theme running through this but I'd be perfectly content if people read it as a bit of fun, in which virtually each line attempts to subvert the expectation created by the previous one(s).

[Virgil]

I think one could find a coherent theme running through this but I'd be perfectly content if people read it as a bit of fun, in which virtually each line attempts to subvert the expectation created by the previous one(s).

Ok, I can dig it. :wink5:

[breathtest]

a heartbreaking poem, probably because in most cases it is perfectly true

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Virgil and Breathtest.