Slipping away
Time slips away
Slippery like the ground outside
Drenched in Winter rain
Inviting the gullible
Welcoming one and all
To admire the green that comes with the rain
To take in wisps of the wet soil
Distracted from the goal
"I can get it done"
"This will only take a few minutes"
Minutes turn into hours
By the time they return
Its too late
Time has slipped away.
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Monday, May 12, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Simple Yet Powerful poetry: Stuff I like
This is pretty powerful writing by Wislawa Szymborska. She is a polish poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1996. Notice the simplicity of the poem. Yet It has so many layers. Simply mind blowing
The Three Oddest Words
By Wislawa Szymborska
When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold.
-----------------------------------------------------
Utopia
By Wislawa Szymborska
Island where all becomes clear.
Solid ground beneath your feet.
The only roads are those that offer access.
Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.
The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.
The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.
The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the Valley of Obviously.
If any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.
Echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds.
On the right a cave where Meaning lies.
On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction.
Truth breaks from the bottom and bobs to the surface.
Unshakable Confidence towers over the valley.
Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things.
For all its charms, the island is uninhabited,
and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches
turn without exception to the sea.
As if all you can do here is leave
and plunge, never to return, into the depths.
Into unfathomable life.
Possibilities
By Wislawa Szymborska
I prefer movies.
I prefer cats.
I prefer the oaks along the Warta.
I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.
I prefer myself liking people
to myself loving mankind.
I prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand, just in case.
I prefer the color green.
I prefer not to maintain
that reason is to blame for everything.
I prefer exceptions.
I prefer to leave early.
I prefer talking to doctors about something else.
I prefer the old fine-lined illustrations.
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.
I prefer, where love's concerned, nonspecific anniversaries
that can be celebrated every day.
I prefer moralists
who promise me nothing.
I prefer cunning kindness to the over-trustful kind.
I prefer the earth in civvies.
I prefer conquered to conquering countries.
I prefer having some reservations.
I prefer the hell of chaos to the hell of order.
I prefer Grimms' fairy tales to the newspapers' front pages.
I prefer leaves without flowers to flowers without leaves.
I prefer dogs with uncropped tails.
I prefer light eyes, since mine are dark.
I prefer desk drawers.
I prefer many things that I haven't mentioned here
to many things I've also left unsaid.
I prefer zeroes on the loose
to those lined up behind a cipher.
I prefer the time of insects to the time of stars.
I prefer to knock on wood.
I prefer not to ask how much longer and when.
I prefer keeping in mind even the possibility
that existence has its own reason for being.
For more from Wislawa Szymborska
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-poetry.html
The Three Oddest Words
By Wislawa Szymborska
When I pronounce the word Future,
the first syllable already belongs to the past.
When I pronounce the word Silence,
I destroy it.
When I pronounce the word Nothing,
I make something no non-being can hold.
-----------------------------------------------------
Utopia
By Wislawa Szymborska
Island where all becomes clear.
Solid ground beneath your feet.
The only roads are those that offer access.
Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.
The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.
The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.
The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the Valley of Obviously.
If any doubts arise, the wind dispels them instantly.
Echoes stir unsummoned
and eagerly explain all the secrets of the worlds.
On the right a cave where Meaning lies.
On the left the Lake of Deep Conviction.
Truth breaks from the bottom and bobs to the surface.
Unshakable Confidence towers over the valley.
Its peak offers an excellent view of the Essence of Things.
For all its charms, the island is uninhabited,
and the faint footprints scattered on its beaches
turn without exception to the sea.
As if all you can do here is leave
and plunge, never to return, into the depths.
Into unfathomable life.
Possibilities
By Wislawa Szymborska
I prefer movies.
I prefer cats.
I prefer the oaks along the Warta.
I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.
I prefer myself liking people
to myself loving mankind.
I prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand, just in case.
I prefer the color green.
I prefer not to maintain
that reason is to blame for everything.
I prefer exceptions.
I prefer to leave early.
I prefer talking to doctors about something else.
I prefer the old fine-lined illustrations.
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.
I prefer, where love's concerned, nonspecific anniversaries
that can be celebrated every day.
I prefer moralists
who promise me nothing.
I prefer cunning kindness to the over-trustful kind.
I prefer the earth in civvies.
I prefer conquered to conquering countries.
I prefer having some reservations.
I prefer the hell of chaos to the hell of order.
I prefer Grimms' fairy tales to the newspapers' front pages.
I prefer leaves without flowers to flowers without leaves.
I prefer dogs with uncropped tails.
I prefer light eyes, since mine are dark.
I prefer desk drawers.
I prefer many things that I haven't mentioned here
to many things I've also left unsaid.
I prefer zeroes on the loose
to those lined up behind a cipher.
I prefer the time of insects to the time of stars.
I prefer to knock on wood.
I prefer not to ask how much longer and when.
I prefer keeping in mind even the possibility
that existence has its own reason for being.
For more from Wislawa Szymborska
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-poetry.html
Forbidden zone
The Forbidden Room
Im parched,
Eyes fighting to stay open
Legs gave way to my knees
Fingers searching in desperation
for a knob, a key, a lock even
No way in, Rock solid
Covered in sweat and smears of blood
Breathing heavily as if I ran a marathon
But all I have done is wait outside the forbidden room
It sends out a shine, a radiant glow
which beckoned me to it, at first sight
How would I have known
to get inside would require an effort as seen by none.
I came as a knight, bravado in tow
My first attempts at it left me shell shocked and sore
Finnese and wit, my pillars of strength
fell apart and shattered against its mighty door
Bruised but not beaten, "its time to regroup", I said to myself
Slowly but surely, I started looking for loopholes
"This is not worth it, I can find other rooms, with treasures far greater and easier to explore"
"Stop making excuses, and focus on the door"
Conflicting thoughts, and frustration crept in,
Suddenly!!!
a beam of light....Hope.... is it?
Halucinations galore
I would watch it for hours, observing every inch,
thoughts would criss cross about how to get in.
Ah.. a small opening here.. Success!!!!
Alas.. a dead end .. "no more"
Realization dawned
The room needs to trust. it needs to believe
I am deserving, I am the chosen one...
I need to believe, I need to trust
I need to push on, I need to try harder
Tired but hopeful, I linger along
Trying to show, there is only one..
Sweet glow .... of Happiness, of prosperity divine
This is my destiny, I know its mine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kal Aaj Aur Kal
Staring into the unknown, the future
The future stares back
What are you looking at?
I will destroy you, unless
So stop staring and work on your present
and let me get back to mine
I tried my hand at the current
But it didnt make sense
So I looked back at my past
Having been snubbed by the future
The past was much more accomadating
inviting me to revisit
retrospect,
The past was kind
It had taught me valuble lessons
It gave me fond memories
I was slipping away
What a wonderful past I had
Unlike the future, dark, and gloomy
the past was a light beckoning me towards it
Wait a minute!
My present is still good,
It was because of my past,
which was my present some time ago.
Thats the reason, I have fond memories
because I worked on it when it was my present
But the future conspires
By working with my past
to make me ruin my present
So I wont look back, I wont stare forward
I will put my head down
And work it out one day at a time.
Im parched,
Eyes fighting to stay open
Legs gave way to my knees
Fingers searching in desperation
for a knob, a key, a lock even
No way in, Rock solid
Covered in sweat and smears of blood
Breathing heavily as if I ran a marathon
But all I have done is wait outside the forbidden room
It sends out a shine, a radiant glow
which beckoned me to it, at first sight
How would I have known
to get inside would require an effort as seen by none.
I came as a knight, bravado in tow
My first attempts at it left me shell shocked and sore
Finnese and wit, my pillars of strength
fell apart and shattered against its mighty door
Bruised but not beaten, "its time to regroup", I said to myself
Slowly but surely, I started looking for loopholes
"This is not worth it, I can find other rooms, with treasures far greater and easier to explore"
"Stop making excuses, and focus on the door"
Conflicting thoughts, and frustration crept in,
Suddenly!!!
a beam of light....Hope.... is it?
Halucinations galore
I would watch it for hours, observing every inch,
thoughts would criss cross about how to get in.
Ah.. a small opening here.. Success!!!!
Alas.. a dead end .. "no more"
Realization dawned
The room needs to trust. it needs to believe
I am deserving, I am the chosen one...
I need to believe, I need to trust
I need to push on, I need to try harder
Tired but hopeful, I linger along
Trying to show, there is only one..
Sweet glow .... of Happiness, of prosperity divine
This is my destiny, I know its mine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kal Aaj Aur Kal
Staring into the unknown, the future
The future stares back
What are you looking at?
I will destroy you, unless
So stop staring and work on your present
and let me get back to mine
I tried my hand at the current
But it didnt make sense
So I looked back at my past
Having been snubbed by the future
The past was much more accomadating
inviting me to revisit
retrospect,
The past was kind
It had taught me valuble lessons
It gave me fond memories
I was slipping away
What a wonderful past I had
Unlike the future, dark, and gloomy
the past was a light beckoning me towards it
Wait a minute!
My present is still good,
It was because of my past,
which was my present some time ago.
Thats the reason, I have fond memories
because I worked on it when it was my present
But the future conspires
By working with my past
to make me ruin my present
So I wont look back, I wont stare forward
I will put my head down
And work it out one day at a time.
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