Monday, February 16, 2009

Doubt



What we see
is not
what we see

What we love
is not
what we love

Everything is
illusion
allusion
delusion

The stars even
are not
the stars

In the desert of deceit
or self-deceit
reality is
a perpetual
Fata Morgana

Relativity
reigns
absolute

Only birth
stands true
only death

28 comments:

Lisa said...

This is the perfect poem for me this week. I have been meditating on truth and illusion, reality and perception, Plato's allegory of the cave, all of it. And the stars even are not the stars. Thank you for this.

Catherine Vibert said...

All is Maya. I love this, the structure, and I'm really glad you mentioned the stars and relativity and my the Fata Morgana because I just looked it up and now I know something new! Cool! And I agree so much with this which is why I live in the shades of gray.

Unknown said...

And death is the greatest illusion of them all :-)
Beautiful, Vesper - as always xxx

Charles Gramlich said...

I believe this poem to be true.

K.Lawson Gilbert said...

Reminds me of what Poe once wrote "...is all that we see or seem - but a dream within a dream?"

Very probing verse - filled with philosophical matters. Your posts always set me to thinking. ;)

laughingwolf said...

brilliant observation, v... well done

the walking man said...

Relativity reigns absolute. Wonderful line Vesper...I will now begin to change my perception of where I stand relative to the rest of the cosmos, defying the perception that all is a heat induced illusion.

SzélsőFa said...

This one hurts now - but don't worry Vesper, it's not your fault at all...
(you know the story behind, you left a nice, thoughtful comment on my addiction.)

Marilyn Brant said...

Your poem reminded me of that Rene Magritte painting "This is not a pipe"--that familiar but always very true sentiment of "the treachery of images." Lovely.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

WOW.
You nailed that one... so absolutely on the head.

Doesn't each of us have our very own reality, and how vastly different are they? As different as every one of us.

Very well done.

Scarlett & Viaggiatore

Anonymous said...

Very interesting and well written poem. I like vanilla's thought, though.

"death is the greatest illusion of them all"

Paul

BernardL said...

A stirring word illustration of your picture.

Karen said...

"In the desert of deceit
or self deceit
reality is
a perpetual
Fata Morgana"

and
"Relativity
reigns
absolute"

I love these lines.
Deceit/self-deceit as a desert -- perfect!
Reality as Morgana -- perfect!
Relativity as the only absolute -- Outstanding poetry!

L.A. Mitchell said...

I, too, love the structure of this one. Every word aligned in the perfect place :)

Jon M said...

Loved the 'illusion, allusion, delusion,' phrase. Just my kind of word play. Nice one Vesper.

Vesper said...

Lisa, thank you. It’s a topic that haunts me too often. And the stars… it’s mindboggling… we’re looking at phantoms in the sky…

Cat, I’m glad and grateful for the connection. All is Maya. - I have to ponder this…

Vanilla, thank you. :-)
And death is the greatest illusion of them all - I very much hope this… but until each of us reaches that moment we cannot know. From what I see, for now, death is “real”…
xoxoxo

Thanks, Charles.

Thank you, Kaye. :-)
"...is all that we see or seem - but a dream within a dream?" I often wonder…

LW, thank you so much. :-)

Thank you, Mark.

I know, SzélsőFa… I live in the worlds of my writings…

Marilyn, "the treachery of images," yes, very interesting… Thank you.

Scarlett, I’m glad this “spoke” to you. Thank you!

Paul, thank you so much. I too like Vanilla's thought… :-)

Bernard, thank you. I find that picture fascinating.

Karen, you’re so sweet… I’m beaming! Thank you!

Thank you so much, L.A.. :-)

Jon, I'm glad you liked this and I'm glad that you stopped by. :-)

Akasha Savage. said...

Hi Vesper. I'm actually commenting on your post regarding The Historian. I too have read and love this book. The way the author writes transports you into her world so fully. I too felt bereft when I came to the end. My only criticism is that we follow in Dracula's foorsteps for the whole book, and then in one page he's conquered. I would have liked the conclusion to have lasted just a bit longer. Apart from that, I loved it! :)

Vesper said...

Akasha, I didn't want to give the ending away in my review. You're right, it was too hasty and too easy. Then I thought - "It probably wasn't him." :-)

Aniket Thakkar said...

Vesper, this was so very wonderful! I so wonder the purpose of our existence...I was even inclined to believe that we lived in a matrix when I saw the movie! "Relativity reigns absolute"...seems a public favorite.... ... this was the best thing Newton ever taught me in high school!

Thank you for such a good read... it left me staring at the stars and wonder...

Sarah Hina said...

You are the Einstein of poetic verse, Vesper. ;) Relativity reigns absolute is one of my favorite lines of yours.

Birth and death as the bookends...what will we fill the between?

If we can shape personal meaning from the illusions, then I will continue to look at those almost stars, and find some beauty there.

Aniket Thakkar said...

PS: After reading Sarah's comment I realized I looked liked an Idiot up there as it looks as if I was relating Newton to relativity! She obviously ha her physics right! :-D But physics has always been something I was quite good at, so I take this opportunity to clarify that our school's physics teacher was nick named Newton, because he always used to drop things down and then smile at us and say... 'well that's Gravity for you'! LMAO! Those were happy days!

I love Sir Issac newton's "Pseudo Force" concept... Einsteins "relativity" of course.... But dear old friend Murphy still rules them all with his laws!! :)

Geraldine said...

You have spoken volumes here Vesper in very few words. Excellent. I'm going back for a re-read.

Hugs, G

Vesper said...

Thank you, Aniket. :-) "The Matrix", yes, why not, I've often thought of it myself... :-)

Sarah, you're so sweet! :-) I suppose that's what life is... giving meaning to illusions, and birth, and death...

Thank you, Geraldine. It's something that I often think of; the more condensed it is, the better... :-)
*hugs*

Anonymous said...

Relativity. True. The world we see and want is often out of phase with the world that is. But I think our love still speaks truth, even it is subject to some delusion.

laughingwolf said...

i see i've lost you as a follower of my blog :(

Vesper said...

I hope so, Jason. :-)

Never, LW, never! :-)

Catherine Vibert said...

All is Maya. This is from whence that comes...
http://hinduism.iskcon.com/concepts/105.htm

Gagan said...

Vesper, beautifully written and yeah I too sometimes wonder about the life's cipher. Great read :)

Hey I've just stepped into blog-world a couple of days ago and yeah my first post is a poem:). It's called 'A Perfect Decade'. Have a look...