All the ink in my inkwell

[PrinceMyshkin]

All the ink in my inkwell
and all the light
streaming down from the sun
are just fractions
of my life here on earth
(if that is who and where I am).

A friend writes to say
he knows that his faith
is the only sure way to God.

He might do better, I think,
to know the price of bamboo shoots
in Beijing.

[Delta40]

beautiful first stanza Prince. Highlighting our miniscule existence in such a grand way! I'm not sure about the last lines. However, it is still early here and my brain is struggling to work....

[blank|verse]

Yes, this is familiar territory for readers of Prince's poems, but I too think the ending lacks a bit of a kick. Perhaps if the final image had linked to the first, or something like that, it might have resonated more. But then, the 'message' of the poem is quite flatly materialistic, and realistic, so maybe that's inkeeping with the form. Always good to read, though.

[Buh4Bee]

Good stuff Prince. Very good stuff.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Delta, B|V and Buh4bee. I wonder if it's clear enough re the final verse, that the friend who wrote me does not live in Beijing therefore, I assert, information re the price of bamboo shoots there cannot be of much if any use to him, but is at least more verifiable than his 'knowledge' of the path to "God." And note in verse 2, the opposition of "knows" and "faith," which are often confused with each other.

[Delta40]

well when you put it like that....you're even wiser than I give you credit for!

[qimissung]

Lovely, Prince; I understood what you were trying to say. Perhaps people were troubled by the lyricism of the first stanza and the rather dry observation of the second. I don't know, just a thought.

[Hawkman]

I'm not sure that the who in the last line of S1 actually agrees with the preceeding statment.

Whilst I tend to agree with the premise, that those who spend their lives devoted to potentially unachievable spiritual quests might better spend their time living life, I'm not sure that it actually reads this way. It is possible to intepret the 2nd and 3rd stanzas as saying that the best path to god is knowing the price of food, which, I feel, isn't quite as profound.

Still, as always, you have something to say and an interesting and engaging way of saying it.

Live and be well - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

I'm not sure that the who in the last line of S1 actually agrees with the preceeding statment.

Whilst I tend to agree with the premise, that those who spend their lives devoted to potentially unachievable spiritual quests might better spend their time living life, I'm not sure that it actually reads this way. It is possible to intepret the 2nd and 3rd stanzas as saying that the best path to god is knowing the price of food, which, I feel, isn't quite as profound.

Still, as always, you have something to say and an interesting and engaging way of saying it.

Live and be well - H

I agree with your first statement: grammatically, it doesn't parse but I wanted to avoid the long-windedness of specifying myself other than "my life."

As to your second statement, I wasn't intending to make a comparison between the material and the spiritual, so much as to say that one could with more confidence obtain the cost of bamboo shoots &c as that of the presumptive, invisible deity.

[Hawkman]

Interesting premise, but not one that leaps to mind on reading, I think. the assumption of knowing would seem to maginalize, if not exclude, the possibility of finding out, whatever the relative ease of the quest, or the reliability of the answer.

[_Shannon_]

As always...I love it. I must say I love it more stopping after the first stanza, but that's because I adore the imagery there, as I am wont to do.

[Buh4Bee]

Thanks Delta, B|V and Buh4bee. I wonder if it's clear enough re the final verse, that the friend who wrote me does not live in Beijing therefore, I assert, information re the price of bamboo shoots there cannot be of much if any use to him, but is at least more verifiable than his 'knowledge' of the path to "God." And note in verse 2, the opposition of "knows" and "faith," which are often confused with each other.

Prince- It was clear to me when I read the poem. This is one reason I enjoyed it so much. I am a person of faith and I question it more often than I probably should. I like the idea of being able to compare faith to a monetary value of something in a foreign country. Faith is not so quantifiable in this way. It is clear that you were not saying your friend was from Beijing.

[Haunted]

The ink and inkwell imagery is surprisingly unique, especially when we don't use fountain pens anymore even if we are not tapping on the computer keyboard (or touching the glass on the iPhone).

There could be two poems here. The way it is written with 3 stanzas, or just the first stanza, as the jump from ink to God to bamboo is quite a leap. But of course the incongruity is precisely the point.

[Bar22do]

I love the conception here Prince, S1 is particularly good. I'd too rather had a kick at the end though. Your familiar tone is a pleasure. Best from (traveling and momentarily homeless) Bar!