Dreams of a Poet

[Reilley]

The toiling poet drank deeply of the sap of sane pleasures,
exulted mightily in the cold beauty of dead stars.
He built careless bonfires of his demented sorrows,
and laughed a lunatic’s mirth in the light of their glorious blaze.

He sipped with resistance of a heart’s questing romance,
mixed love maternal, familial and parental into a sloppy stew,
which he then ate, wiping it clean with the bread of betrayal
before draining the Scriptures dry for each last drop of peace.

In his toil, he wrung magic from the winepress of human nature,
stole raw gems from the deep mine of inner thought.
He scraped sweetness free from the honeycomb of innocence,
and left his muddied tracks in the minds of those who read his words.

Yet none of this was sufficient to ease his manic need.
Every dream of his sleep became a nightmare of missing pieces,
every rhyme a dancing will-o-the-wisp of promise,
haunting and prodding the poet to further trial, and ultimate error.

But when he finally cast aside all dreams, all ambition,
he found himself floating in the cool dark of sanctuary.
Guided by a tiny glimmer of light just within his grasp,
he found his soul, and it warmed him for all time

[Brigid Briton]

Hi Reilley,

You've got some great imagery and richness of words here. I especially like "the sap of sane pleasures"---really cool.

My least favorite line, unfortunately, is your last. It seems to be the ultimate "tell" (as opposed to "show"). I know there has been much discussion on the forum lately about the relative merits of each. Personally, I'd be happier if you let us draw our own conclusions at the end, rather than spelling it out with "he found his soul and it warmed him for all time." For me, it just says "so there you have it". I'd opt for a little more room for interpretation. Just my opinion.

Please don't feel that you have to stop with poems about poetry and poets (which you mentioned doing on another thread). I think those are subjects that are endlessly fascinating to those of us who call ourselves poets.



Brigid

[Reilley]

Brigid, you do have a point about the telling and not showing. I wonder what other poets here might think about that.

I am as yet undecided about how best to end this piece. Any suggestions folks?

[Fire Monkey]

I'm of mixed views on this - I know that the whole "show don't tell" mantra is sacrosanct to the modern English teacher and yet, it has not always been that way. There was a time when a good story teller actually did a lot of telling as well as showing and nobody had a problem with it. Much of oral tradition is like that. Other than the fact that English teachers freak out over it, I have yet to hear any real evidence that shows it is inherently better to "show" all the time. That said, I do find the last stanza to feel weak and perhaps a change in the final sentence would improve that

[Brigid Briton]

Hi Reilley,

I'm glad you resurrected this. It's so filled with the poet's angst, which most of us can relate to, at least at one time or the other. I think what bothers me most about the closing stanza is that it not only draws a conclusion for us, it draws it "for all time". My own experience with that elusive something (call it inspiration, your muse, creative energy) is that it ebbs and flows. There are times when it seems far, far away, and others when it grips you by the lapels and says, "Listen up! Write this down!". Whether the poet's soul is saved seems to be a question that's up in the air, depending on the aforementioned ebb and flow. There are many times in my own experience when I really have my doubts.

Anyway...that's my two cents worth.

[Reilley]

I cannot help but feel that casting off all dreams and ambitions is a permanent thing, writing for the sake of writing rather than for affirmation or profit, or fame, and that the "for all time" section refers to poetry's ability to long outlive the poet, their words, their true soul being bared for generations to come, academics who might study the poet's work in the far flung future rightly assessing the poet's grasp of the real, only because the poet had thrown off the yoke of personal gain, and written simply because he or she must write.

I dunno, sounds defensive when I type it out like that, but that was what was on my mind when I put those words together. As always, your mileage may vary. 

[Brigid Briton]

Hiya Reilley,

Nah, you don't sound defensive at all. I think we just have different interpretations of this poem, which, as you know, often happens. What you meant doesn't always translate into what someone else "got" from the piece.

It seems that you were writing about poetry and poets in general here, while my interpretation was that you were writing about a specific poet.

In addition to a difference of interpretation, you and I definitely have different opinions about the evolution of a poet. Casting off dreams and ambitions may or may not be a permanent thing (in my own experience it is not permanent, it is another facet of the poetic life that, for me, ebbs and flows). This opinion doesn't detract from your poem, it only reflects my own thoughts.

I also didn't realize that your poem was referring to how the poet would be perceived by posterity. That may be what you intended to convey, but saying "it warmed him for all time" doesn't really refer to how the world was affected by his poetry, but rather how he was affected by casting aside dreams and ambitions and embracing the tiny glimmer of light.

Or, maybe it's just me. It would be very interesting to see whether anyone else picked up on the broader implications of this poem, mentioned in your comment.

No matter, it's really great to have you here getting things stirred up again. The dust has been gathering for too long. Thanks for bringing in your feather duster.

[Fire Monkey]

Personally, to me the phrase "cast aside all dreams" is not in any way a positive ... it is in fact the very opposite of a positive. To me, a poet who has cast aside all dreams is no longer a poet because it is the dreams that are the substance of poetry. I am assuming of course that what you mean by the terms and what I mean are two totally different things since, if I understand what you said in your post correctly, you seem to be meaning that phrase as a positive, a goal to strive for. My point being, naturally, that for me when I read the poem the ending sounded like you were saying "But when he finally gives up...." and thus I took it in a very different light from what I now believe you intended.

[Brigid Briton]

Good point, Tim!

[saore]

I like this poem.  There are some excellent images.

Sergio

[Fire Monkey]

It does have good imagery and over all it is a well written poem - just a question of how certain terms are interpreted and that is always a problem when different people understand things through different experiences.