...to exhale.
waiting to breathe in.
waiting to exhale
in the way that others do;
just like those others that live on dry land,
high above the highest water mark,
where there is no fear of dry land drowning.
(and with the wait over)
a barely controlled passage of hot and dusty air,
over dry and wasted cords
brings with it the ability to utter again;
not in the way of mudskippers,
but in the way that plato might
or in the way that neruda might
and so it is like when the stars are understood;
or it is like when the mathematics of being can be put away as implicit.
and when one is not a number,
it is easier to count to two...
perhaps it's rust
or reticence
that makes me ignorant
perhaps there is no point in saying anything if there is nothing to say
or just the attempt to say something is good enough
"Where there is no fear of dry land drowning"
the poor want to be rich
the rich want to buy their time back
the fat want to be thin
the thin want to be fat
the fit want to be fitter
the dumb want to be smarter
the smart want to be smarter
the alone want to be loved
the loved want variety
the secure want excitement
the free want security
the naive want knowledge
those who know wish they didn't
poets want to be rich
mechanics want to be creative
smokers want to quit
quitters want to win
winners want to lose to regain the hunger
although your poignant journal, offering us cheeseburgers, did not allow us to forget how you are able to gently prod our consciences with a few carefully chosen words, your silence has been noted and well documented by the elite that regularly visit your pages.
so, this post could not go unnoticed and for those that are tuned in, there will be a genuine, audible sigh of relief that you have once again found your voice.
it was worth the wait.
breath holding is not a very satisfactory preoccupation and those that do the counselling will advise that such cognitive states are best avoided. clear minded experts that have led aseptic lives would not understand how it feels to experience
that tetanus, that inter-costal muscular and diaphragmatic paralysis, that is induced by inner turmoil. but fortunately there are others that know that when life gets complicated sometimes broad shoulders are simply not enough.
perhaps all that is necessary is to get rid of life's clutter and to then find safe moorings to protect our loved ones where there will be no fear of drowning. with broader stairs, there will be room for man and dog to breathe….. and why not throw a lucky money plant in for good measure.
everyone has the right to breathe, but it can be terrifying when normality eludes us. you certainly quickly learn who your true friends are.
having drawn breath ....
you would instinctively understand how it is to be treading the glacier head with bjork, looking hard for moments of shine from twilight to twilight. i can understand also, especially that need to tumble down on knees and that yearning to melt into aurora like melting snow. bjork has an unusual but very distinctive voice. she flags up environmental issues and finds innovative ways to be heard… you could go into partnership!
it is good to hear you exhale.
what you have managed to utter with your rasping breath is quite wonderful.
[..although I would not wish to put down mudskippers because they are fantastic creatures with amazing anatomical and behavioural adaptations. cutaneous breathing being only one example of how they survive. … and thus, unlike us do not need to gasp. there again, they can bury themselves in the mud, which i often wish could be an option whenever i am up to my neck in poo]
and so… to plato:
i find it interesting that you chose to mention plato. he was quite reticent about himself. he never actually got to physically climb onto his soapbox. neither did he state his opinions directly (except in his letters), he wrote mostly dialogues. […. and frankly i don't really care whether he was just prettily quoting Socrates or not because he was the one that was quick witted enough to write it all down in this clever way] and as you say, his mathematical ability was first rate too…. at least Euclid agreed with you….. I guess that is why he designed his systematic approach to maths based on what plato had said.
…what tickles me pink however is that plato left a great deal of his knowledge purposely obscure. i like that he often spoke in riddles. .. you note that he was pretty switched on (!) but don't you also like the fact that he did not share all he knew about the planets with the dull minded? yet for those prepared to look beyond and between the lines, veiled in Plato's poetic language is the finest technical knowledge of the age. your modesty may make you blush, but your similar traits have not gone unnoticed!
which leads me nicely into 'oda a la critica'.
i am sure that I am not the first to point out your clever selection of this clip and the significance of joaquin sabina reading neruda's poetry.
both of these men discovered the quiet power of their individual voices and used their talents to sing / speak out. both went through a considerable amount of suffering and demonstrated a great amount courage particularly when they were young and penniless and, even at times when with hindsight, they were somewhat misguided, they were prepared to stand up for what they believed in.
[…perhaps its the knowledge of all this fervent passion and bravery that gives neruda's love poetry that raw, straight from the guts honesty about it that never fails to reach its mark …? ]
..... but the poem you have chosen to illustrate your message hits home also.
"…..once again,
men and women
came to live
with my poetry,
once again
they lighted fires,
built houses,
broke bread,
they shared the light
and in love joined
the lightning flash and the ring.
And now,
gentlemen, if you will excuse me
for interrupting this story
I'm telling,
I am leaving to live
forever
with simple people. "
Y ahora,
perdonadme, señores,
que interrumpa este cuento
que les estoy contando
y me vaya a vivir
para siempre
con la gente sencilla.
i love how you champion the simple people
without being in the least patronising.
I have sooo much fun playing with the youtube dowloads that i end up going back over this time and again.
Exhaling is harder than inhaling, but it's also where tensions are released from the body. It then that the body finds relief. I kept thinking of the Whitney Houston's song "Exhale" as I read this and you'd found your point of exhale, when everything can just be, and that's okay too.
jan
PS- gotta get my sound working write so I can do more than read this poem in Spanish. I love the sound of the language...esp. with a Castillian accent VS. the harsher mexican style that is so common here.
stop it. stop posting poems that are like this. you know, good (intentionally understated).
Interesting that it is waiting to exhale first, before waiting to inhale.
Emerging from the dark, rejoining those we sought to leave behind. And just be. Not over-thinking it (which is what I always do initially with your pieces.)
So I won't. I'm taking this at face value for now, and loving the simplicity in it, the slender lines weaving back and forth.
I have a friend on another site who is brilliant in mathematics and physics. She likes to explain much more than my taste desires. Sometimes my soul just wants to hear that it's alright and it's fine to be breathing.
So I like a simple line and a kind words that lead me into a sense of peace. This one does that very thing.
And I swear it's the need for bliss that makes us write ourselves right back into it. And of course finding ourselves in the crux of too many words and explanations, ink is the perfect escape.
I am human, after all. It's always good to read you. Hope you're well and taking care,
Submission Name: waiting...
