appreciated the cyclical nature of the beginning and ending here, guy, the shape of the piece truly draws the reader from one to the next.
always enjoyable to come across the allegory of the cave used so well to tell a story AND still stay true to the philosophical roots.
the image of Cain and Abel gracing the piece seems a particularly striking one in reference to the religious allusions in the text and presents some difficult questions to the reader about the true nature of those left in the cave seeing the light of flame on walls as the purest form of light and warmth.
Meanwhile, our narrator feels true warmth on his back as he calls back to them to lead them outside, a bigger picture.
thought provoking read, @geekorner, thank you.
Hey, I'm a Philosophy grad student, if I don't use Plato's Cave appropriately, then who will? We must do our part to spread culture, heh.
I am really happy about the line opening and closing this piece. It feels so strong. Both in terms of the overt picture of the mute poet, and what all poets must face, and within the piece. Almost certainly my favourite bit of the piece.
As for the image. I've said before that I take immense pride in how well I feel I match the images I choose to my poems. I worried about this one, because it felt like the connection between the image to the piece is much easier to miss, but it seems I worried needlessly. That's the great thing about such potent images, that they are so full of meaning that they work, by dint of that alone, almost.
As for the reasons I picked this image, and what meaning I hoped to convey with it, in order to follow-up to my answer above and also my discussion with @guytmartland beneath, I'm going to not answer. I am just happy and curious to see all the reads this image brings forth in the minds of the readers.
Almost like a Jungian mask, when you present someone with such an archetypical image. The first murder. Sibling rivalry. Murder born of love. Guilt and hiding the truth that cannot be hidden. And so much more.
(I do wonder what religious allusions you've found in the text though, please feel free to share!)