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Monday, March 31, 2014

Finding pieces -- Unfinished Nonsense

Saint Michael fighting the dragon, Hours of Etienne Chevalier, illuminated by Jean Fouquet. Innumerable symbols here: "The scene is inspired by chapter 12 of the Apocalypse which describes the combat of St. Michael against the dragon, symbol of the forces of Evil. Assisted by the angels, one of whom holds his helmet and lance, Michael raises his  sword against a monster of seven heads in front of a mountainous and fantastic landscape. Below, the caves of  hell open where Satan oversees the torture of hearts. On the right, one sees in the flames the dragon  defeated  by the archangel." Public domain via wikipedia.fr

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Unfinished Nonsense: 
.
Today a new process was to be installed in our routine.
They call it finding our life's meaning through happiness, hardships, and indulgences.
We called it "walking with the rat on the wheel of labour."
What did it matter, what was in a name
which we didn't understand nor did we care?
 .
Without an inkling of sensibility they proceeded.
First was the harness, all of the rats has one, maybe two or three.
There are ones for working, playing, and
maybe a different one to knock around in or sleep. 
Most rats don't have all as the better ones come through rewards.
Definitely they are in control.
.
My harness fit nicely and now the wait,
tension arising, for the first uphill ordeal of the wheel. 
That would come as a series of questions they would present
throughout, seeking to trigger a cataloged response. 
"Did we like our mother?  Our father?  Do we hate our love partner. Et al."
...
Oh my.  This wasn't what I thought it would be,
my responses are becoming evasive and a bit cruel today. 
Usually I'm such a caring and tender person ...
.
Cryptic mode, cryptic mode!  I'm switching to cryptic mode! 
.
Ialbocvdeeyfoguhailjlk,blymenfooprqervsetrunvowwx,
I'mdrowningindissociatedandirrationaldisguise!
.
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Poem Copyright, ©  2014, Jimmiehov, All Rights Reserved

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My piece is 'unfinished' because I chose to stop writing it.  It was going nowhere that poems should go.  I liked my idea of telling of the trials of a person undergoing mass psychological testing but I am lacking in enough subject matter knowledge to complete this task.  (I did take Psychology 101 in college which wasn't of much help to me now, forty-some years later.)

Today I'm listed with the Real Toads, Open Link Monday.
 
My 'unfinished' prose poem is also linked today with the Real Toads, Get listed with Hedgewich: Mind and Symbol
Please read her piece.  The illustration and accompanying description were from her post. 
The instructions were:
"- The piece should deal with the world of dreams, the mind,  symbols or the unconscious. It may retell an archetypal myth. It may be about a specific dream. It may be about sanity or madness, or it may explore and focus on any one or more of the symbols shown in these pictures or on a personally meaningful one. 
- I have included thirty-two words (below) so that our poems may take different directions. There is no maximum number limit, but also no requirement to use them all, either. 
- However you must use at least five of the words from this list:

meaning, wheel, name, inkling, indulgence, unconscious, perception, limit, amplification, faint, threshold, frail, dissociated, control, evasive, tender, oscillate, tension, impulse, penumbra, fetish, stiff, irrational, precise, trigger, primitive, cryptic, jump, boundaries, deflected, forgetting, collective, disguise."   [I've used the ones underlined].

5 comments:

  1. We called it "walking with the rat on the wheel of labour."

    Ha! I thought this was a very clever take on the prompt, Jim. A new angle on Skinner's box and the rat race all in one. It never pays to delve too deep, after all.

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  2. Those muddled thoughts and tests can drown us in irrational undisguise ~ Just leave things be, unfinished ~

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  3. Sometimes we drown in seeking depth....love your "rat on the wheel"

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  4. I'll bet the unfinished nature of the poem is how many "subjects" feel at the end of such ordeals.

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  5. Psychology 101 is not simple, Dr Jim :)

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