I have a slight problem with reality
People keep telling me what it is
Who gave them the right
to frame the world
like a picture
like a picture
drawing everyone into
a two dimensional nightmare -
a fantasy of realism
framed in guilt
How happy they must be
inside their golden borders
but
I do not like my cage
so I say 'no!'
The world is bigger,
higher, deeper, brighter,
more unfathomable
and dangerous
than you think.
And yes, there are monsters,
dark,
beneath the clear blue waters,
bright,
beneath the clouds.
So do not scoff
and press me like a flower
against your flat earth,
or the pages of unwanted books
or the pages of unwanted books
for although I cannot see it all,
I see you hanged
dead
against the wall.
against the wall.
A..J. Ponder
Ok, it's international women's day - just a bit late - mostly because I don't stand for such things, preferring classier options, like for instance, international talk like a pirate day ;)
Thank you for this sentiment, AJ. I agree with you totally.
ReplyDeleteThe incomparable W.G. Sebald loved to pepper his novels with photographs for precisely this reason -- to expand their range of meaning and resonance beyond the two-dimensional frame. He had some astonishingly serendipitous moments with a few of them. The last interview with him linked in the Wikipedia article might be of interest to you.
I'm a fan of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, too, but feel that International Women's Day also has its place: it's up to us what we make of it. Having the privilege to make something of it at all, or not, may be part of what it is all about, of course ...
ReplyDeleteHi John, thanks for this - I looked it up and the whole interview reminded me terribly of "the hollow tree" by J Rosenburg and I started to get the shivers.
ReplyDeleteCheers Helen - it's not that I'm against Women's day - it's just the fact that we have one makes me feel like a second class citizen. Perhaps we could have women's day every day - or better still men's day once a year ;)
ReplyDelete