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Originally Posted by dd3953
Hello Sue, I know this is random, and has nothing to do with the thread, but I LOVE your avatar. That's one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.
Yeah, while I understand what you are saying about "limits" I don't really agree. One of the ways to stay without limits, and to always find what else is out there is to not stop stop reading or listening when you find a "favorite." I have a new of favorite poems, and those at "number one" change often.
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Then you do understand. By not being forced to praise one and abandon the soul/evocation of other poems, I, in way of speaking, remain unfettered. However, that does not mean I cannot attest to the right good feelings I encounter when I view the various aforementioned poems by other members here.
Also, it gives me that much more pause and circumstance to find and choose a topical poem for whatever situation I encounter, hopefully conveying to the present audience the same meaning I discovered within the lyrics of the literature, likening myself to you, through a common medium.
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That, for now, I disagree with. Maybe in ten years I'll have to rethink it.
When I was in high school I found a poem by Langston Hughes:
Evil
Looks like what drives me crazy
don't have no effect on you
but I'm gonna keep on at it
till it drives you crazy, too.
And this poem, even as I typed it 9 years later, it bring forth the same feelings, joy, frustration, and laughter that it did the first time I read it. And I don't really see that changing.
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If only to illustrate my thoughts, I mean to say that no poem, however great and/or ambiguous in emotional abstraction, can serve as an "emblem" for life, your personality, situation, personal perception, etc. for the reasons in which we seek solace and find comfort through various hobbies, works, & friends; these things change and shift gradually through time, just as we would have and expect our own lives to do. So, while you do find the same feelings in a work a decade later, I am merely stating that I would not display it and quote it throughtout that entire length of time because it does not serve through every situation that can occur in that hypothetical span.
Looking at your particular selection by Hughes, I smile. I admire your choice, if taken and shown explicitly for my personage, or by your own indistinct volition to highlight him, I appreciate te effort. I feel the preciseness of the concise message, perceive its intent, and slightly, I am drawn into ease.
Now I am here, idle, analyzing the poem, trying to search for a way to express my mind's eye way of interpretation, so that I can liken back to my 'serving every purpose' example; "Evil", by Langston Hughes, is such a mutable work of art that it makes that much more difficult, but it stands to say, this poem of course stands the test of time, yet does not pass the test of happenstance.
A hypothetical: If I were to think or quote this poem in a time where I found myself with a partner in which I have everything in the world in common with (what a find that must be!), then this composition would not accurately convey the situation, no? (tho, I might think of it as a kidding reminder, a contradictory viewpoint for an occurrence that is equally as implausible-finding the perfect partner to a pair).
This is all I meant to portray in that statement provoked from my mind's present mode of thought. I have difficultly in choosing a 'favorite' poem because no one expression, at least in my experience, can precisely hold unweathered through a lifetime without facing contrapositionary confrontations brought about from real life occurrences. I do, however, find safety in the knowledge that for whatever the present situation may be, I can look to the literary expressions of multitudes, and become in-tune to their feelings, if only for a brief moment. And in that limited interval, I become integrated with the sentiments of many because for us all, we find ourselves searching for the comely companionship of another; poetry helps us discover why.
Post-script in Perspective:
In a topical nature of juxtaposition, I will yield to the original query with this one thought:
The purpose of a fish trap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to. —Chuang Tzu