The Deaf, in Their Mute Cubicles

[PrinceMyshkin]

How are the dead these days?
We haven’t heard from them in ages.
Under the rant and chatter
of the so-called living
runs a silence
so deeply encrypted
that not even the profoundly deaf
can hear it in their mute cubicles.

[aliengirl]

Under the serenity
of your elegant words
lies a profundity, oft missed
in the clamour of life.

[Hawkman]

I love the word-play and double meaning in "encrypted" and the dispassionate reflectiveness of the sentiments expressed, but why are the deaf in "cubicles"? Isolated? Not, apparently, from eachother, for they have a fierce sense of community.

Live and be well - H

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks Aliengirl and

Hawkman[/B];1113795]I love the word-play and double meaning in "encrypted" and the dispassionate reflectiveness of the sentiments expressed, but why are the deaf in "cubicles"? Isolated? Not, apparently, from eachother, for they have a fierce sense of community.

Live and be well - H

A good friend of mine is somewhat hard of hearing; observing her and the numerous times she has to ask for what was said, I conceived of deafness as an enclosure.

[BookBeauty]

Sagacious. (I wanted to use a word other than clever that meant sharp and smart at the same time.)

[Delta40]

I suppose I read this as all the dead remains of humankind buried deep in the earth throughout history. How is it possible for anyone to hear them in modern day living?

[AuntShecky]

I can't say that I can speak for the dead, but for the hard of hearing, sometimes when you can't hear somebody, that's a good thing (if you catch my drift.)

[Jerrybaldy]

I love your thought that this certain silence SHOULD be heard by the deaf and not the hearing.
I cannot decide if this is about death or being deaf or both, which is exactly what I expect from Jerry I.
A pleasure as always.

[DieterM]

Yes, profound and sagacious, yet somehow playful. A real little gem, Prince!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Aunt Shecky, JerryB, DieterM, Delta and BookBeauty: Thank you all.

[qimissung]

I agree with all of the above. I had not thought of the idea that a certain silence should be heard by the deaf and not by the living...it makes one pause.

It reminds me of the play, "Our Town." You know what it really makes me think-that we should stop and be quiet. We all KNOW this, and yet like children, we are so often heedless.

Thank you for giving me a moment of quiet in my busy day, Jerry.

[AuntShecky]

PS--I forgot to tell you your poem was good! an another PS (PPPS?) -- In Frederick Exley's A Fan's Notes there is a really funny passage involving a housewife "thought" to be deaf, but really wasn't! You can imagine the embarrassment afterward.

[Haunted]

So masterfully conceived. Just the right amount of cynicism while the silence is loud and clear.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thank you, AuntShecky and

Haunted[/B];1114900]So masterfully conceived. Just the right amount of cynicism while the silence is loud and clear.

The cynicism wasn't consciously intended but if it was there, I hope it was ameliorated by the empathy I felt, the link between "dead" and "deaf".

[hallaig]

I like it, though I don't think it's at all true. Bloody racket the dead make! Like the simplicity of the piece

[PrinceMyshkin]

I like it, though I don't think it's at all true. Bloody racket the dead make! Like the simplicity of the piece


'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

(On a tangent: I believe we generally understand the "Ye" to refer to all of us, throughout time, but what if he meant it to refer to the particular reader, implying that there was more than this glib sophomorism that the rest of us might know?)

[aliengirl]

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

(On a tangent: I believe we generally understand the "Ye" to refer to all of us, throughout time, but what if he meant it to refer to the particular reader, implying that there was more than this glib sophomorism that the rest of us might know?)

Hmmm....something to think of. :rolleyes5:

[Haunted]

The cynicism wasn't consciously intended but if it was there, I hope it was ameliorated by the empathy I felt, the link between "dead" and "deaf".

Not at all. It's very subtle as in "so-called living". I think most people who are introspective can relate. At the end of the day there isn't much difference between the dead, the "so-called living" and the deaf, is it? And yes, there's a sense of sadness about it too and it comes through quite clearly.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thank you, Haunted, and

Hmmm....something to think of. :rolleyes5:

Yes, Yes! It's such a squishy, smarmy sentiment; and think how many of us, at the height of our naive, romantic teens, have been taken in by it? Yes, yes, beauty is truth... I will swear by it from now on!

And then there's Shelley with his "I fall upon the thorns of life..." Imagine how much clear space and fresh air would be created if we could retroactively delete those two & their works from the pages of English literature!