An Answer (wwe)

A razor sharp insight about self-delusion, put into the language delivery injection system of a short lyric poem that punches its pith on denial with the verve of an assailant.

Thanks John, I appreciate the astute interpretation.

It must have been a Protestant haiku.

Magi, I love your comment. It made me laugh out loud. :-) ...definitely in the spirit of the poem.

Oh Magi!

Powerfully written, Atticus.

Thank you Cheryl. 

Atticus:

This poem created such a narrative in my imagination from the cryptic opening thought to the end. A braver man would have shared it here. All of this to say this piece has depth, layered depth giving the inventive many paths to explore. Thanks. 

Thanks Umar. Feel free to venture. I'm always interested in your thoughts. I purposefully left it a little open ended. 

Here goes. First, I take full responsibility for what your poem has done to my imagination. She came to his home at midnight aware of his habit of early to bed and nailed a haiku to his door explaining why she had to go away. She used the dissembled retelling of a crucial event to justify her leaving (the canary singing in reverse...canaries were used in mines to detect poisonous gas so when it sings in reverse, its retelling how it got to that deadly spot.

Of course the defining event was disgraceful, a youthful indiscretion. As she left, the crickets laughed are her folly, now twice revealed.

I love it Umar. You are so close to the truth it hurts! You read the meaning of my imagery very well. Actually this poem is loosely (very loosely) based on real events. It stems from the first realization to the youthful mind of how manipulative one can be in a relationship, and how destructive it is. It also embraces the enigmatic ways we try to weasel out of what is happening and confront the situation with even more manipulative hints, mysteries, and vague rebuttals couched in hidden meaning. In this case culminating in an explosive haiku. I sort of extrapolated on it to show how long such bitter lessons last in the minds eye and the poets heart. Someone did actually nail an angry haiku to my door long ago and there was much Ha Ha coming from the crickets. But it didn't last through middle age. Thanks for the great response. I am amused by this poem. 

" singing like a canary

in reverse;"  is brilliant in my opinion.  I'll have to think about the last sentence.

The last two lines are a dispassionate scar to highlight a conclusion. A brilliant poetry.

Beach of passionate storms

I appreciate the comment poddar.

Midlife crisis perhaps.

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment twice. The last line indicates the passage of time to be sure. 

You manage to say so much in few words. Your poetry is magical. Thank you for posting to our group.

Thank you Jennifer, I always love seeing your comments on one of my poems.

After I stopped laughing about Magis' witty comment, I thought this one was almost mystical, Atticus! As always, you create a scene of wonder and mystery in a message   (Luther nailing theses aside, of course), a sweep of life and lies from youth to old age. 

Hey Andrea. Thanks so much. To me the poem is a funny take on a hollow realization. I'm so glad you liked it. 

a quickly directed barb that hides the pain.  Well written with great imagery!

Hi Anne, Thanks so much for your kind comment.

Intricate dip into the veins if age and sense of self~how delightfully coaxing

Purrrrrrrrrrr, Your comments are always a sensual delight.

The laughter of crickets...so very apt

And she so subtlety

Pounding the nail into your heart

This poetry a work of art...and very cleverly wrapped

Hey Jan. Thanks for the lovely comment in verse!

I don't have much to add, besides to say that I genuinely enjoyed the piece.  I particularly like the way in which you've packed up a whole relationship in a few careful, rich figures of speech; reading and speculating on them, the course of that relationship opens out for the reader.

Thanks so much James. I am glad you enjoyed it. My wife's comment on this poem was: "It tastes like ginger, odd and sharp."

Atticus, this one is very close to experimental poetry--a form I find elusive.  :-)  Concrete images, yet arranged in a disjointed frame.  I'm hard put to understand how crickets are a demarkation between life phases.  That'll take some thought on my part.

Thank you for posting to Writing Essentials.  

;-)

Oh I like this one :)

Thank you anna

This is very upbeat despite the topic. You have a lightness about the way you construct your poems.

This is one to read and reread. Pointedly neat.