Love Does not Change the World (Wednesday Writing Essentials)

Brilliant use of the prompt, Atticus.  The Danish is quite similar to Norwegian here, but likely pronounced much differently.

Hey thanks John. I love the sound of all those northern European germanic/ scandinavian languages. I wish I could speak Danish. 

Do you speak Norwegian?

No, but my son in law is Norwegian and I tried to learn a little before we visited there after my daughter's wedding.

Very cool. I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunity to visit again if your Son-In-Law is Norwegian - assuming he has family there? Or do they live there?

My daughter and son-in-law live here.  His parents did mission work in Central and South America and recently returned to Norway.  His brothers and their families live in Norway.

Atticus, how long have you been writing with such depth?  I delight in reading poems such as this.

I wonder if wink should be past tense?  And could you read this aloud at a poetry reading if need be?  ;-)

I have my moments Susan ;-) and I would love to read this poem, but I'll have to get permission from the Danish Embassy to butcher their language first. 

Oh, past tense. You may be right and I thought about that but I can't think how to make that work exactly the same. Any suggestion? 

Shouldn't it stay "wink"?  It's a noun following a possessive - chaos' wink - right?

Yes Stirling, I think Susan was refering to changing the last line around to reflect the time period. I don't see how to do that without changing the idea that chaos often winks at order.

I read wink as a verb.  Now that I see it's a noun, yes, it should stay as is.  mea culpa

Atticus, again your work is a fresh surprise. Love does not change the world, and the stones in hand hold the balance such as in the story of David? Wow ... a lot to think about  in this compact work. I suspect I'll be circling back for a few additional reads.

Nicely done.

Adrian, thank you so much. Your comments are always thoughtful and kind. Much appreciated. 

Hi Atticus, The point of this is quite true and it's relevence understood. An excellent interpretation of david and goliath.

Richard, pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for reading my poem and taking the time to comment so generously. 

Ah Kierkegaard. And an excellent poem, Atticus. David's triumph, no less. A fave story but I love this twist.

I especially love "over chaos' wink at order."

Featured in the The Triple Name Club

Kathryn, thanks. That's my favorite part too. You are so kind to feature this poem.

Beautiful poem, great use of the prompt and I love the quote by the Danish philosopher. I agree wholeheartedly. I've changed so much in the past five months because I've experienced unconditional love. This one resonated with me deeply. Thank you for posting to our group, The Poet’s Circle.

Jennifer, Thank you very much indeed. I agree, even the recognition of the reality of unconditional love is a life changing event, the experience of it elevates one to a higher plane altogether.  

Your point of view is profound. It is, of course very relative. Sometimes I wonder, going away from the context, if by changing a thing we are actually leaving a corpse behind...

In the web of cruel dreams

Now, that is an intriguing comment, Kushal.  "... by changing a thing we are actually leaving a corpse behind..."  Intention is the important element, I believe of any action.  If transformation must occur, let the result be an improvement, eh?

Poddar, that is an intriguing comment. And Stirling, your response is equally thoughtful. Thank you so much my friends.

Atticus, what a clever and profound response to the prompt.  I agree with Kathryn - the last line is great.  I also liked the reference to the dry river bed.  The poem took me back to my reaction to the story the first time I heard it, and the awe I felt at the courage of "little David" as he's called in the great spirituals.  I also loved the quote from Kirkegaard.

Great comment Stirling. I have not read Kierkegaard in many years but his book "Fear and Trembling", although the subject of that book was Abraham, inextricably linked him in my mind to the meaning of old testament stories.

I wrestled with your last line a bit, not knowing if you are using "chaos" in a tradition sense ("disorder") or modern (mathematical) sense, but I think you intend both.  Chaos winks at order because there is a certain amount of order within chaotic systems. 

Yes Ann, That is where I think both ends meet in the middle, so to speak. I use it the way I do to describe the point that free will overlaps with destiny. or Kierkegaard's leap of faith.

First, I just want to say I'm delighted with your language choice for this prompt. One excepts to see a lot of French and Spanish from foreign language prompts, but Danish? No.

I also love shorter pieces, when they manage to take a message or concept and portray them so eloquently, with fewer words. Choice and action are as important, when it comes to making changes. This is lovely, Atticus, and I really enjoyed reading it.

I wish I had a better ear for languages, myself. I grew up in Germany but didn't keep up with the language, although I was fluent as a child. I can still read a lot of it, which lets me pick up a little of the other languages as well. I know a lot of people think they sound harsh but I find how they sound appealing too. :)

Perhaps love does not  change the world , but it sure does make it a better place to live in when you are experiencing it.  Wonderful take on the prompt.  thank you Atticus

Thank you so much for visiting Elsie. I appreciate your comment very much. 

My favorite existentialist philosopher...I wanted wanted complete existentialism but got Sorens religious bent...oh well A- is not too bad...loved it

Richard, I really appreciate the A- and no that's not bad at all. Although I think you'd have a hard time finding any Kierkegaard without a religious bent. ;-) Thanks so much for your kind comment. 

This poem is like a river-washed stone: hard, compact, smooth of outline, useful-- and beautiful for those very attributes.  Kierkegaard notwithstanding, this doesn't seem a "faithless" piece; you've struck at the crux between Providence and agency, where one becomes the other.   Would David's God have wished him to stand and wait for deliverance?  This is remarkable, Atticus, one of the best I've read from you.

James, a perfect read on the intent of my poem, thanks so much. You are a tremendously perceptive reader. And your praise means quite a lot to me. I really like that you commented on the compactness of the poem and compared it to a river-washed stone. 

Oh wow. This was great!