As my charming history teacher declares, "I will reform myself!" And such is my avowed intention--thus the snowballing blizzard of posts. A bit of background. This poem began with legit curiosity as to whether one could write passable poetry while munching an apple--as I was then doing: you be the judge of that. From there it morphed into a pondering on prayer, rather unimaginatively comparing it to the food I was eating, and finally, concludes with a pondry on human nature. A disjointed poem, but heartfelt; composed while lying on my family's picnic table!
Or are the craft of the pen
And the need of the stomach
Incompatible?
We eat thrice a day--sometimes oftener
Snacking often
Or at least I do.
I pray less--and don't nosh between meals.
Should we schedule our prayer
Like they schedule lunches at a cafeteria
20 minutes each--and leave your tray by the door?
Do our souls long for prayer like a marathon runner
Pants for water
And dehydrated, gasps
Do our souls
Deprived of that necessary solitude
Wheeze and shrivel
Before our unseeing eyes?
A Beast is fully corporal, filled with very self
An Angel is fully ethereal, filled with that delightful Other
As necessary for Life as bread--more so
But quietly.
Which triumphs?
The angel's ecstasy
Or the Beast's gluttony?
Jesus was Man and God
Man is God and Beast
To which nature will I subscribe?
To my Jekyll
Or to my Hyde?
3 comments:
I say, "yes, a poet can eat" which your poem aptly demonstrates. I quite like your poem and your analogy of prayer to eating, certainly reflective of the many , biblical metaphors, which you allude to, of being fed spiritually.
One point of grammar, in the lines:
"Or is the craft of the pen
And the need of the stomach
Incompatible?"
the verb should agree with the subject, which I'm sure you know, and since the subject is plural (craft and need), the verb should be as well, (are instead of is). (Sorry, I'm a writer, reader and homeschool Mom, what else could I do but point this out?!)
LuAnn
OK, now I have a comma that shouldn't be there in my previous comment (only fair that I acknowledge that).
Anyway, what I wanted to say is, are you planning on doing something that involves language for a career because it's obvious you have a real talent and passion for it?!
LuAnn, again
Oh wow! I Thanks for pointing out that grammatical mistake--how embarrassing! I'll fix it right away. Ha...I need an editor!
Awww...your kind words exhilarate me :) It's always thrilling to receive commentary, especially such analytical encouragement! I do vastly enjoy language--choosing precisely the right word to describe an experience or artfully crafting an effective argument, etc. However, I don't know if I'll write for a career (though Nora flippantly asserts that I should be a newspaper columnist--ha! In the same conversation that I tell her she'd make a marvelous spinal surgeon...) though hopefully I'll always write.
Post a Comment