The Mute Poet
No cliches,
the people say.
Huddled, they sit,
within Plato's cave.
They ask me to speak,
to be their truth-finder,
for I have ventured outside.
I have seen the glory of the Sun.
I have gone down on my knees weeping
at the glory of it all, the glory of the world.
And then I turned around, standing in the doorway.
I face them, my back still feeling the warmth,
I face them, looking back into the darkness,
after being blinded by the light's truth.
And there are no words to do justice,
to convey them your glory I've seen.
I make use of the shadow-shapes,
I point and exhort them to see.
But they cannot understand,
for they have never seen.
A mute and moot poet.
I stand there silent,
No cliches.
This was originally written in Notepad, where due to different spacing, some lines were different. In case the above does not look proper where you are sharing it (due to mono-spacing versus none), try this version:
No cliches,
the people say.
Huddled, they sit,
within Plato's cave.
They ask me to speak,
to be their truth-finder,
for I have ventured outside.
I have seen the glory of the Sun.
I have fallen down on my knees and wept
at the glory of it all, the glory of the world.
And then I turned around, standing in the doorway.
I face them, my back still feeling the warmth,
I face them, looking back into the darkness,
after being blinded by the light's truth.
And there are no words to do justice,
to convey the your glory I've seen.
I make use of the shadow-shapes,
I point and exhort them to see.
But they cannot understand,
for they have not seen.
I stand there silent,
a mute and moot poet.
No cliches.
This piece is inspired somewhat by @dbooster who's been referencing to me lately as "The Poet," and to the muse of all my recent pieces, @mamadini, for this piece definitely has musings on what one writes, and how one writes, as a so-called poet. Especially when one writes about deeply personal experiences such as loss, depression, and love.
Check out my latest pieces:
- “Git Gud” – You Don’t Want An Objective Review, You Want Your Opinion Parroted
- Poem of Protection - Words of Warding
- Why You Should Pick the 50/50 Reward Split
- Shitposting - The Defense Mechanism of Lonely Geeks (And Corporation Co-opting)
art and flair courtesy of @PegasusPhysics
The image used is "The Death of Abel" by Gustav Doré, 1866, and is part of the Public Domain.
© Guy Shalev 2018.
I love the pairing of the image to the words.
You leave me speechless, yet again. <3 <3 <3
A speechless poetess? That's almost ironic, when it comes to this piece ;-) Yet, since this piece is also about me being unable to convey my feelings for you, that is so very appropriate <3
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!)
I loved this the first time I read it. Love it still, @geekorner. You have a knack for making something deep and at times even dark feel intense yet bearable. Like looking at the deep deep water through an old lens of a child's kaleidoscope toy. And sometimes, just as puzzling :-)
And anyone who gets and USES Plato's Cave is well - awesome. Happy to have found you here. Or however that happened.
Blame @techslut for dragging me in. I have to say I was skeptical at first, having seen a couple of Discord communities for Steemit before. But I'm glad this one turned out oh so different.
As I told @carmalain7, I'm a philosophy grad student, if I would get Plato's Cave wrong myself, I might have to make amends, somehow.
And I'm glad you liked it Inna, and I thank you for the continued support on my poetry. Especially the darker kind, as I worry it might miss the mark, as I've been writing more strictly love-poems since returning to poetry-writing last month.
So much to like here: the visual feel of the poem, the different interpretations, the language, the philosophical slant. My thoughts have run down a number of different avenues, trying to divine meaning. And for me, that is the purpose of a great poem.
I'm glad you liked it! As I noted when I linked to The Ring, which actually goes at things from a very different angle, the universal, yet with one message, rather than this which goes for the personal yet open to interpretations, I like that you can find great poetry on both ends of the spectrum.
And yes, this piece really is open for interpretation, and can be read in multiple ways, on multiple fronts. While the Isle was not the best place for it, I am curious what the political read for it you've had was.
Thanks for dropping by, Guy(2)! :)
I love the visuals of your poem... The thought-provoking observations. The shape is interesting, not the easiest to create. This part perhaps is one of my favorite.
Found this to be my favorite part as well!
Isn't that how it always works? And is the poet venturing outside, or inside? Whence does the Poet's truth come from?
Thank you for the kind words, and yeah, the concepts of "Truth-finders" and "truth-seekers," when divorced from the Inquisition always make me very thoughtful.
That is the question... And I think very well it comes from both within and from without.
You are... The Poet!
Every time you call me that, I chuckle. But since your continued support and the gifting me of the title led to this piece, thank you for the continued support :)
This should really be a companion piece to your Git Gud lol. Having read it just before this, the Plato's Cave bit was so prominent. I can see you shouting at the unenlightened, the unwilling to be enlightened.
A large portion of my non-fiction non-poetry writing is about tribalism, and how one should not let it take too much of their personality. So it's unsurprising most things tie into it.
But as I've grown older, I shout at them less and less. I present things, and wait for those who want to partake to do so. Those who do not wish to partake? I do not waste too much effort on, because only those who wish to learn will.
Dear @geekorner,
Noticing religious connotations, I see the form as an arrow pointing the way forward to the truth.
As I asked another, I'm very curious, what are the religious connotations you see? And I like all the different ways the form can be read here :)
I loved it kitteh but in this part there is a snag in my opinion
The your feels off can I suggest a tiny tweak without you stealing my pie ?
How about a simple - the ?
I know you were most likely going for the your to make it personal and specific to the entity but flow wise and language wise it feels like a pointy something making it feel uncomfortable and wrong in my opinion.
No, I'm not going to agree :P
This "Your" is what makes it clear what the whole poem is about. Yes, it can also be read as an abstract musing on the nature of poetry, and of relaying emotions, but this is specifically a love poem, and a musing on trying to convey love, via poetry, with the stricture of "no cliches." So this is very much a word that should be there.
Also, it does fit grammatically, and even if it didn't, in poetry, there is such a thing as poetic license.
And I see why you snagged on it, but like most of my poetry from this year, it was actually written for an audience of one, and then shared with others :)
I think it is the combination of your glory I've seen ... maybe ditch the i've seen and do your slory alone or your glory seen ? As is the audience of one is OC the most important :)
I'm trying to say I like it as is :P
I respect you'd have changed it, but I won't, because I think it conveys exactly what I want it to at that bit. Critique is not always received, y'know, because at the end of the day the poet has to make the call, based on their style and taste ;)
LOL yes kitteh ;)
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