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The Deep Wounds of Short Cuts
so often
facing winding roads
we cut through
fields of swords
armed and armored
even when, just feet
to our left or right
there's a clearing
nary even a thorn
and no need
to carry that weight
of kill or be killed
the bent back,
hardened breath
the deep wounds
of short cuts
around communication
and compromise
This poem is splendidly
This poem is splendidly philosophical or psychological or existential (I am sure each reader will see one or more of these aspects), all three at once, and it presents a paradox that I have never seen stated before: that the shorter the cut, the deeper the wound. To me, reading this for the first time this morning, your statement and explication of this paradoxical situation is short of brilliant. Though the subject is tragic (sometimes bordering on comic when one realizes the stupidity of always taking the short cut to the deep wound), your presentation of it is elegant, empathetic, and very, very convincing. This poem is not talking about something fictive---like perpetual motion machines, or little green aliens from Alpha Centauri; this poem is telling us of the very human condition into which so many of us wake, and from which so many of us retreat into fiftul and disturbed sleep. You have posted a poem that is excellent in all of its aspects.
Starward
Thank you, sir, for such a
Thank you, sir, for such a generous, in-depth analysis of "The Deep Wounds.." To see the way it sparked a connection with you, Patricia and Cascade is a real honor for me. I believe that's a strong indication that I've written something of real meaning, and I'm very grateful for that, as well.
Indeed you have written a
Indeed you have written a poem of real and lasting significance; most certainly!
Starward
A strikingly insightful and
A strikingly insightful and brilliantly navigated journey through those exasperating psychological landscapes where even shortcuts are perilous. I get this!
Superb and highly identifiable.
Thank you very much,
Thank you very much, Patricia. Life, no matter how much we try to domesticate it, is indeed a perilous wilderness. But it's also a fertile and fruitful one, if we allow it to be.