If a stranger walks into your life
with an uncertain role to play
don’t leave the stranger in left field.
A wingless angel
stark naked
and running into battle
with nothing
but spooks at her side
three bodiless spooks
with strangely oblong
old faces
one with a lolling tongue
the other with a pensive look
and one that lectures the enemy
even as it flies forward to meet them
a fourth little spook has a body
and runs forward with unfathomable terror
written across its small face
– he is the smart one
for he knows what enemy
he is the going forward to meet
and he would dash away
if given half a chance –
the angel bonds him
with a thin metallic rope
and her hand is right there
at the nape of his neck
keeping him in place;
she’s a mean looking angel
with burning eyes, twisted lips
and a briar of thick tangled hair
hollering as she strides forward
to greet the encroaching armies of evil
she’s just skin and bones
and her halo
makes her an easy target.
The father of modern analysis
is at odds with
the mother of all chance.
– matt at shadow of iris
[Middle verse inspired by a work of Zdzislaw Beksinski.]
The father of modern analysis
is at odds with
the mother of all chance.
This is crux of the mystery… so well put…
Matt — they just keep getting better and better… more clear…
“This is the crux of the mystery …”
I simply wrote it out based on how it felt, but thinking about it, perhaps you are right. Thank you.
Maybe another way I could say it is logic and passion (animal spirits) at odds…
Such great poems!
Both those words are potent with many meanings. They bear a heavy burden. Logic, I think, as properly viewed is as harmless as the wind. Passion much less so, but where would we be without it.
On further reflection, I should not pretend to know too much about any of this. Thank you for your kind comments.
Oh Matt… I think there are some essential truths in the images you create… I’ll be quiet and leave you to your muses…
Your comments are always welcome. I do think about logic and stuff like this a lot. And you hit on something that I think is really important. When I write poetry I’m striving for ambiguity, the type of thing that fires the imagination. When I discuss philosophy, I do just the opposite.
If I start to discuss philosophy again, it will be here, where eventually I’ll start a blog:
http://www.criticalrationalism.net
We all wear masks, and I often wonder who Kitty is one mask removed (one mask deeper), certainly a friend, thank for reading and commenting so much. Best wishes.