I can critize facebook all I want, it still serves it’s core purpose – networking people who would otherwise have been lost in time. My friend [Saba Raja] is miles away but that wouldn’t stop the poetic therapy we engaged in via Facebook. Starting off from my comment on Saba’s status and in the following replies, I suggest free-verse exchanges (which i’m calling Poetic Theraphy).
Since you wouldn’t have the time or interest to read whole poem, I would do a quick explication (hopefully Saba agrees on my interpretation).
One of the idea that Saba and myself developed through the poem was the emptiness of our being. Though we seem to accumulate all, run through the various institution of life (school, church, marraiges, etc.), it all comes down to the eventual emptiness of it all.
Hate. Another interesting theme we discussed in the poem is the how much we pursue our ‘emptiness’ and very often ignore the existence of others. We mine oil and lessen the standard of living of locals, we build skyscrapers, make the city inhabitatable, how about making workers work in diplorable condition and pay them ; we tag some weak, poor, victim and some strong, rich, victors and oppress accordingly. The poem further suggests; the oppressed be enlighted because knowledge empowers.
I doubt I can fully explicate well enough considering the depth and twists. Why not attempt a read:
-I-
Gone with the sleeps,
Are these dreams,
Of the days when I could breathe,
When I didn’t sneeze every 2 minutes
I don’t think I will do this:
-II-
There is you and there is strength.
Those weary days, those flow-y lines,
those head-y thoughts,
maybe they make feel weaken – ignore.
Alas! here you are, line on line, let it go -
don’t let go – cause -
There is you and there is strength -
Strength is the thing you can’t see,
You can’t feel, you can only be it.
Like the feeling of love,
you don’t feel it.
But it exists.
Like the strength of a dying man
like the strength of this blurbs,
Like the inspiration of this lines,
think the strength we wouldn’t see – but imagine it,
it’s physical, it’s alive,
standing tall, strong and quick, wrapping around you,
You receive it – your longings for it’s craving -
to whom you cry:
"O Strength, you are all I need, tend me like nursery,
make me whole and cast off this ill"
Snap back, here you are,
like love, strength within you
and is You.
-III-
Strength am I.
Strength I am.
Taller than me,
The eternal bliss I am,
The nothingness of peace,
The emptiness of dead lungs,
The wholeness of a dead soul,
The equilibrium of those gone,
Strength is the weakness,
That we don’t see,
Death is absence,
But in reality,
It is the presence of all,
Plus and minus,
Equal,
Death,
The equilibrium,
The goal,
Strength today,
Weakness tomorrow,
For goal,
And become all,
All is nothing,
Nothing is all,
All is not,
Not is we,
We are it,
It is Us.
Us while we thrive for those things,
Things like this that make think
Think about death
Death defies yet edifies
Edifies and correct
Correct my wrongness in the presence of guilt
Guilt is right, right is wrong
Wrong in the sense of our subjective self
Self is us, we are not, nothingness is real
Real-thoughts? , real goals? real strength?
Strength is Weak
Weak is Strong – one or the other, make one I
I am they, they are me,
Me is them, they think me, me think they
They are here – all around.
-IV-
Around me,
or around we,
there is no me,
then how can it be?
that "I" exist,
that "they" are,
that "IT" is,
or will ever be.
Its all a dream,
What’s a dream?
A boundary-less thing
But why define?
No definition exists?
Me or We – none exists,
Or, for reality -
there is no reality
there is only one truth
one truth that WE are afraid of
one truth that IT has defined
one truth that can not be denied
One truth that engulfs all
a black hole…
it has all…
but is still a "hole"
that is death
the hole, that makes us whole.
-V-
Wholly we find timelessness,
time is subjective, here is timelessness.
Where is us?
Us is us,
us defines the me,
the me defines the you,
you-we all,
in time of timelessness define "we".
I exists, we exists, defined by before, now and after – a word of time.
Plunge me into that hole and give me drink of reality:
Time walks, we walk
Time flies we flies,
Time is Reality-Reality is the "we".
What is time?
defined by us,
then why r we,
defined by time?
Why is there a before?
Why is there an after?
-VI-
We exist in a continuous circle,
we eat ourselves like the snake eating its tail,
we feed ourselves, our own flesh and blood,
WE is ME, YOU are I, IT belongs to US,
then how can we,
kill ourselves,
and blame time, or "them"
we are them,
we are the victims,
we are the killers.
But,
death is life
maybe thats why
we kill without any regrets
because time doesn’t exist
there is no before
there will be no after
it IS
they victims are US
and we exist
- no need for an after
-VII-
Think victor, think victim.
Think strong, think weak.
Think power, think oppressed.
Think captor, think captive,
Think this, think separation.
Think that, think exploitation.
Here is we or us, or you, or them, at first one.
Think those again and you’ll reason, with time:
strong comes, weak comes
power comes, oppressed come.
Think again and we reason:
Here is human nature, a quest to dominate.
Dominate beasts, dominate the weaks – doesn’t matter:
It’s power, they have they use.
Then why complain?
The oppressed is the oppressor,
weak is strong,
absence is presence.
right is wrong.
time is timeless,
dreams are real,
peace is the enemy,
that we all fear,
beast is human,
weak is the beast,
Why complain?
We are the cause
of our own defeat.
Defeat is not conclusive, definitely skip-able.
This is the reason for my call:
A cry in the wilderness raising consciousness:
"Stop the dog digging its own grave – Stop the madness!"
It’s a call out of ignorance, it’s a call to action,
a call to take off the veil,
not a complaint, it’s a call to avert defeat.
Defeat is only skip-able when
this defeat is recognized
when defeat is seen as a defeat
not a victory
yet we cover it up
like covering a grave with flowers
or a baby with clothes
"Its pure" they say
when its purity is the death of pure
"Its love" they say
when it is the hatred in disguise
"it is the love of god, love of humanity, love of ‘US’"
when it is the hatred for all, including their own "self"
yet they do not recognize
they defeat their own essence of being,
by defeating the other.
To that "other" let’s make strong:
Expose the ways of the exploiters,
take off the veils, lay aside the flower and call to them:
"Let us reason"
For the love of the chain, slaves remains bound.
Expose their ways, give power to the powerless,
lay off the strong, it’s a call out of ignorance,
it’s cry that reveal the fake-hate,
the fake-live, and the fake-give.
It’s a draw-out of the quagmire of deceit.
A quagmire mashed with religion, with patriotism, with capitalism and media.
It’s a cry to call, to the "other" :
"This is a Spade, it’s time to re-think and re-learn!"
Saba & Dele, 2009
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