Do we create the story?
Perhaps, we are only told.
The man climbs his vine
finds himself already divined,
his sexuality his address more
than the creative heart.
The woman held to Eve
bespoken for more than belief.
She is both damsel and distress.
Again, entwined in more than dreams,
romance no chance for escape -- both
prize and game, she again finds
her presumption to self run against the rocks
culture, sex and history declaim.
We are seen as touched by madness
when we dance with chance,
perhaps a season of serendipity,
in hopes that romance steals our heart
leaves rhythms tattooed in the blood.
We are not bruised by love;
we are transformed. Awaken
after the dream is past to find
ourselves strangers, we have nodding
knowledge of when we look into the mirror.
Carnal expressions reflections of spirited flight.
We pour more truth into the touch of fingers
night readings perhaps than we would admit.
These roses, we bleed upon, still full of tender desire.
Our sense of being demands we be more
than a destiny mapped in genomes. Tell the man,
hear the woman -- the story is theirs to create.
They will not wait to be sculpted by the hands of fate.
6:26 PM • 07-20-09 • Alexandria, VA
In a list
Please tell me what you think, what it makes you feel, how you are moved.
Comments
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"both prize and game" - an interesting concept, vividly expressed and so true, sadly. You've expressed the strangeness of the whole business of love, sexuality and gender. It's a philosophical sort of write - "Our sense of being demands we be more/than a destiny mapped in genomes." Another good couple of lines.
So biology is not destiny and Freud was wrong?
Enjoyed your write.
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There is an optimum path available for us to travel. Call it destiny if you want. We are built to not see ourselves to clearly. It allows us to keep striving. Seriously, they found a part of the brain, it turned off, has people see themselves in a cold harsh light as they are right now. No discussions of potential or what might change. Our fate is found in the arguments we create, the stories fed to us by others, positive or negative, we buy into. Our culture has definitions of what is male or female behavior that are to narrow to be real, but manage to create alot of guilt.
Anyone who has to prove their sexuality or manhood, womanhood is already sadly lost and ashamed of the lie they tell themselves. Biology is not destiny. Freud lied to get heard. Quantum mechanics is the current theory that lets us talk about what we believe, but it does not truly reflect reality. We are still looking in the mirror and not to terribly sure, most of the time, about who is looking back.
thanks for the comments. Obviously hit a chord.
Peace,
Tom B.
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"Tell the man,
hear the woman -- the story is theirs to create.
They will not wait to be sculpted by the hands of fate." I really liked that part. Sometimes we do wait instead of just doing and being what we want to create. Inspiring.
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Change is constant as a wave upon the shore. We can pretend to be constant and consistent but we are still affected even when we claim we can ignore all the changes about us. So instead of hiding out why not join the dance and enjoy the music while you move about.
Peace,
Tom B.
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Each is born into one gender or the other. It is the life that is lead, that makes them only part of whom they really are. If you know deep down what makes you tick, then you have won half the battle. For life does not just make you, but helps to form you into being whom you are. Hope my words are making sense to you.
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We are always trying
for what little sense we have. To often afraid to explore all the wonders our senses bring to us. If you know how to be and can accept how it comes and goes along with clear sands and tides, then you'll understand that not all dances are good for all occasions.
Peace,
Tom B.
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Um, perhaps we are just the sum of our parts ... perhaps we're what we make out of the puzzle of free will ... perhaps we're victim of fate ... or perhaps we're all of that. But ultimately, it only matters for awhile. Interesting poetic argument
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Only if you say so.
Depends on how you maintain yourself in the story you tell.
Peace,
Tom B.
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Superb Plus
'tis a very fine, and somewhat enigmatic write, indeed. I think we are a combination of nature, and nurture. When it comes to human sexuality, I don't believe that anyone really understands why some are 'born' heterosexual, while others are 'born homosexual. All I know is that the spiritual teaching I belong to still, "The Teaching of the Inner Christ", also admits, therefore they do not condemn, that they do not understand all the whys and wherefores of human sexuality. Thanks for sharing. -
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I was looking at how much we let our definition control our behavior and vision. We constantly limit ourselves from seeing what is by already thinking we know instead of being present for what God would have us see.
. Spirituality leads us to the moment of creation. It only happens in the present. It is where God lives.
Peace,
Tom B. -
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Aye, stereotyping often can distort one's vision of reality, and there are many different ways of expressing Spirituality, as we both know. Hope you have a good day.
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intelligent poem
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Thanks
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Wow!
I am thoroughly impressed. This is a truly deep poem unlike much of what I see when I read other countless entries. Not only is it deep, but it is extravagantly well put. Keep on writing, please. The world needs more material that's worth the time to read it.
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How we define the "I" and then the definitions of what we describe. I have a whole series of poems (see my lists) on what it means to be a "man." Truly, before we can see the reflection of ourselves we must understand how we filter the information. Then perhaps we can begin to see the bias we are in denial of.
Peace,
Tom B.
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You definitely pushed the envelope of conjecture with this fine entry. Seems you touch upon the nature of the sanctity of relationships vs. primal sexual tendencies with hints of consequence and the quest for freedom from what is expected of us all in this regard. Very well done. Thank you for this entry.
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I am fascinated by our enmeshment with sex, sexuality, gender and how much we are in denial of it. We are so uncomfortable we can't have sane reasonable conversations with our children. of course some of us can. There is always some damn exception or someone lieing about being one. I write poems about what it means to be a man, when truly I find the concern absurd. You are or you aren't. Courage is not something you prove. So much of life is like the person who claims they are humble. You immediately know that one thing is for sure. They are not.
Tom B.
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lovely poem to chew upon....
favorite verse:
We are not bruised by love;
we are transformed. Awaken
after the dream is past to find
ourselves strangers, we have nodding
knowledge of when we look into the mirror.
and I loved that line....
They will not wait to be sculpted by the hands of fate.
plenty of truth in that little gem.
ears/Seattle
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Too much of who we are is abandoned in the face of what we claim is greater than who we are, gene pools and cultural norms. The fact is: too often we are the spoon being stirred by the tea.
Love,
Tom B.
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absolutely beautiful
the art you weave with your words is simply amazing....very well done!
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Believe it or not, there are two impulses driving this. I know I will be writing more in a similar vein. The first is my fascination with what makes a man a man. For a long time I just didn't get the cultural overlay and the way it drove some males. I mean, you are born a guy. Nothing short of an operation is going to change that. You are what you are, till you ain't. I got a list on this site of poems of that ilk.
The other push was in studying gender identification in Developmental Psych. There is gender orientation and identification but then there is a sexuality overlay. Complicates the issue even more. All the cultural crap comes second. No less powerful but it comes after.
Anyway. I kept bouncing ideas around in my head. This is like layer one. Thanks for enjoying it so. You are slightly biased I think
Love,
Tom B.
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